


The Lark and the Nightingale

by Felpata_Lupin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare
Genre: Community: HPFT, Crossover, Drama & Romance, F/M, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-07-16 07:10:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 42,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7257664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felpata_Lupin/pseuds/Felpata_Lupin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <img/>
</p><p> </p><p>A sixteen-year-old witch. Her best friend, who's been secretly wishing to be more for years. A school project which is going to change their relationship. An ancient curse which could doom their lives...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chiara Nightingale

**Author's Note:**

> Stunning banner by the amazing WriteYourHeartOut.

**Verona – Italy – 1576**

The rain was falling copiously over the city. Rivulets of water streamed across the street. Large puddles formed here and there, where the cobblestone had subsided.

Well secluded into her cloak, all alone in the moonless night, the young woman crossed _Piazza delle Erbe_ at a brisk pace, nearly running, and turning from time to time to make sure no one had followed her.

She took a narrow street and stopped for a few seconds to catch her breath. The sound of footsteps made her turn around, startled, her grip tightening on her wand, but it turned out to be just a stray cat. She sighed out of relief. Home was just a few meters away. She was safe, or so she hoped.

*

"Romeo!"

She ran to him and abandoned herself in his hug. He held her shaking body in his arms and kissed her hair, then lessened the hug to look at her in the eyes.

" _E' andato tutto bene? Nessuno ti ha seguita?_ " [Was everything alright? Did someone follow you?]

She shook her head. " _No, nessuno... Almeno credo..._ " [No, they didn't... At least I think...]

He passed a hand through his hair in a tired gesture. " _Forse hanno ragione i tuoi... Non avresti dovuto sposarmi... Sono un pericolo per te, sono un mostro... Non avresti dovuto..._ " [Maybe your parents are right... You shouldn't have married me... I'm a danger for you, I'm a monster... You shouldn't have...]

" _Non lo dire! Non ti azzardare a dire che sei un mostro! Sei una persona meravigliosa, ed io ti amo. Se potessi tornare indietro ti sposerei ancora, e ancora, e ancora. Non posso neppure immaginare di vivere senza di te._ " [Don't say that! Don't you dare say that you're a monster! You are a wonderful person, and I love you. If I could turn back time, I would marry you again, and again, and again. I can't even imagine a life without you.]

He smiled weakly. " _Giulietta, sei pazza..._ " [Juliet, you're crazy...]

" _Sì, sono pazza! Pazza di te!_ " [Yes, I'm crazy! Crazy for you!]

Their kiss was interrupted by someone knocking and screaming outside. " _Aprite! Aprite o butteremo giù la porta!_ " [Open up! Open up or we'll break down the door!]

" _E' Tebaldo. Oddio, Romeo... Cosa facciamo?_ " [It's Tybalt. Oh, God, Romeo... What are we going to do?]

" _Non ti preoccupare. Vai di sopra e restaci. Bada a Lucia. Io cercherò di farli ragionare._ " [Don't worry. Go upstair and stay there. Check on Lucy. I'll try to reason with them.]

" _Non sono qui per ragionare... Cercheranno di ucciderti!_ " [They aren't here to reason... They'll try to kill you!]

" _So badare a me stesso. Fa' come ti dico. Fidati di me._ " [I can take care of myself. Do as I said. Trust me.]

*

Romeo opened the door and Tybalt entered like a fury, followed by Juliet's mother.

" _I miei omaggi, Madonna Capuleti. A cosa devo l'onore della vostra visita?_ " [My respects, Lady Capulet. What do I owe the honour of your visit?]

" _Dov'è lei?!?_ " [Where is she?!?]

The hate in her eyes nearly scared Romeo, but he stayed impassive and pretended to be confused. " _Mi dispiace, Mia Signora, ma non so davvero di cosa..._ " [I'm sorry, Milady, but I really don't know what...]

" _Hai rapito mia figlia!_ " [You kidnapped my daughter!] she cut him out. " _Lasciala andare, figlio del Demonio!_ " [Let her go, you Devil's son!]

" _Non l'ho rapita! Lei ha scelto di scappare via con me! Ci amiamo! E voi non potete forzarla a..._ " [I didn't kidnap her! She chose to run away with me! We love each other! And you can't force her to...]

Tybalt punched him, so hard Romeo fell on the ground. Before he managed to react in any way, or even to get up again, Tybalt started to kick him repeatedly.

" _No! Romeo! Tebaldo, ti prego! Fermati!_ " [No! Romeo! Tybalt, please! Stop!] Juliet ran to her cousin, trying to move him away from her husband. He slapped her and her eyes filled with tears.

" _Lasciala stare, Tebaldo!_ " [Leave her alone, Tybalt!] Romeo screamed with anger, getting to his feet once again.

" _Taci, maledetto lupo mannaro!_ " [Shut up, you bloody werewolf!]

Tybalt took out his wand, and so did Romeo. They started dueling, while Juliet kept screaming, begging them to stop. She managed to get between them, but a Killing Curse had already been cast in Romeo's direction. She was struck squarely in the chest and she fell to the ground, lifeless.

" _Giulietta! No!!!_ " [Juliet! No!!!] Romeo cried, then he turned to Tybalt again. " _L'hai uccisa!!!_ " [You killed her!!!]

" _E' colpa tua! Sarebbe ancora viva se l'avessi lasciata stare!_ " [It was your fault! She would still be alive if you'd let her be!]

But Romeo didn't even hear Tybalt's words. He rushed against him, totally oblivious of wands and magic. Tybalt took out his dagger to defend himself, but Romeo was faster. He snatched the dagger from his hands and in a fit of rage he stabbed him.

Covered in blood and exhausted, Romeo let himself fall on his knees next to Juliet's body. He turned to look at Lady Capulet, his eyes pleading and filled with pain. She returned him a shocked stare and for some reason, looking into her eyes, he remembered all of a sudden why he had to resist the temptation of the dagger still clunged in his hand.

" _Lucia..._ " [Lucy...]

He took the stairs in a rush, but never reached the top. A jet of green light hit him in the back and his corpse fell down and remained reversed motionless on the steps.

Lady Capulet overstepped him and entered her granddaughter's bedroom. She neared the cradle and studied the little girl, uncertain of what to do with the demonic child. The little girl probably recognized her mother's features in the woman's face, cause she suddenly smiled jovially.

Lady Capulet's heart softened towards the baby. She decided that she would take care of her, but she would first make sure that never, not even in a thousand generations, would someone like Romeo Montague approach her family again.

***

**London – England – 1976**

"Chiara, _tesoro_ , [sweetheart] you're going to be late!"

Instead of getting up, the girl turned in her bed and hid her head under the covers. "Five more minutes..." she muttered into her pillow.

That wasn't the answer her mother was expecting. She took the covers out of her and started screaming. " _Cinque minuti un accidente! Giù dal letto! Ora!_ " [Five minutes a damn! Out of bed! Now!]

Chiara moaned but obeyed. She knew better than irritate her mother when she reproached her in Italian. If Anna Nightingale spoke in Italian, it was an unequivocal sign that she was seriously angry.

*

When Chiara entered the kitchen for breakfast, she found her father seated at the dining table, reading the Daily Prophet.

"Morning, Love," he addressed her smiling.

"Morning, Dad," she answered, suppressing a yawn.

"I heard your mother muttering in Italian... You didn't fight this early in the morning, I hope..."

"We didn't fight... I just had trouble getting up..."

Jason stifled a laugh, and then Anna entered the kitchen as well and threw him a murderous glare. "Yes, Jason, laugh! How can I expect anything from your daughter when you're worse than her!"

Jason's face fell, and it was Chiara's turn to stifle a laugh, while she poured the tea in her cup.

"And you, Chiara! Hurry up with your breakfast and go back to your room and get ready, if you don't want to miss the train!"

"Yes, Mum," she said, mentally rolling her eyes.

*

The Nightingales arrived at King's Cross Station at a quarter to eleven. Just in time, as usual. Chiara had barely crossed the barrier of Platform 9 3/4 before finding herself in her best friend's hug.

"Holy Merlin, Lily! I'm happy to see you too... But you're suffocating me!"

Lily let her go, and Chiara studied her friend with concern. Even if she was smiling her usual bright smile, Chiara could tell something was wrong with her. "Is everything alright, Lils? You look a bit..."

"Fine. Just had an argument with Tuney... Such a novelty... And then, right after I got to the Platform, I crossed the idiots..."

"Let me guess... The Marauders."

"Yeah! I can't believe how Potter's head grows fatter as he grows older! They were all there laughing at poor Thomas Wolpert because he stumbled into his trunk."

"Well... That boy is a little clumsy..."

"Not a reason to make fun of him!"

Chiara let the topic drop. As much as she found the Marauders childish and a little annoying (except Remus, of course), she thought Lily was a little too harsh on them.

Right in that moment, Severus Snape passed alongside them. He seemed to wish to stop and talk, but Lily pretended not to have seen him, so he just stepped forward. Lily's expression turned somber all of a sudden and Chiara stroked her arm sympathetically. "I'm sorry, you know... About Severus..."

Lily shrugged, like she didn't care. A blatant lie, but Chiara avoided to point that out. "It's fine. He chose his path. I chose mine. That's all."

"He didn't give you a hard time, did he? During the summer, I mean... You live in the same neighbourhood, don't you?"

"Not exactly. We live in the same village, but he is in a totally different area. And anyway, no. He tried to approach me a couple of times, but I managed to keep my distance."

"You know... He isn't a bad guy... Maybe you should give him a second..."

"He's going to become a Death Eater! He called me Mudblood! I won't give him a second chance!"

Once again, Chiara thought it was better not to press the subject further. Lily was just too stubborn.

*

On the Hogwarts Express, Chiara sat in a compartment with her housemates Alice Prewett and Mary McDonald. Lily was at the Prefects' meeting, but surely she would join them soon.

The three girls updated each other over their OWLs results and chatted for a while about their summers, then the conversation veered to boys' territory and finally landed in the never-ending Potter-Evans betting.

"I give them one more year... Before this year's final exams they'll be a couple!"

"You forget a little detail, Alice. Lily hates Potter."

"Nah, she doesn't. And she'll realize it, I'm sure. Just wait till June and see..."

"How can you be so sure?" Mary asked doubtfully. "Are you a Seer, maybe? Or is it that since you and Frank got together you see Cupid's arrows everywhere?"

"Oh, well... Honestly I don't care about the Marauders, or Frank, for all it's worth... No offence, Alice... There's only one boy I'm interested in."

"Oh, no! Don't get started with Corner once again!"

"Always better than your obsession for Black, Mary! At least, I'm original!"

"I think you're both mistaken."

"Really? Cause your Frank is the best guy in the universe?"

"No. Because neither of you is truly in love with Matt Corner or Sirius Black. I may not be a Seer, but I have a sixth sense about this stuff... Yours are just infatuations. I'd bet fifty galleons that you'll find your true love somewhere else."

Chiara wanted to rebate that Alice couldn't call hers an infatuation, when she'd been fancying Matt ongoing basis since second year. But before she could say anything, Lily appeared in the compartment's doorway.

"Thank goodness! Thought it would never end!" she complained, throwing herself into the seat next to Chiara.

"It couldn't have been that bad..."

"Couldn't it? With Lupin and Snape bickering all along?"

"Remus bickering? Are we talking about the same Remus Lupin?"

"Maybe bickering isn't the right word... It was more staring and teasing... Aaargh! They'll drive me crazy!!!"

The year definitely wasn't starting under the best auspices... Chiara couldn't deal with a bad-tempered Lily Evans all-year-long. "Well, girls!" she said, trying to sound cheerful. "What about a game of Exploding Snap?"


	2. The Muggle Studies project

The first few days of school went on smoothly. Nothing noteworthy happened, not until Thursday afternoon.

The Muggle Studies' classroom was still empty when Remus arrived. He liked to be the first to sit in a classroom. He liked the sound of silence, after having endured all Hogwarts' turmoil. He enjoyed those minutes alone, having the time to put his books and quills on his desk in perfect order, without James and Sirius and anyone else mocking him about his pedantry.

Obviously, his time alone didn't last long. Only a couple of minutes later Chiara entered the classroom as well, muttering angrily to herself. She sat down next to him and he smiled, not sure if he should feel annoyed or amused.

" _Maledetti idioti!_ " [Damned idiots!] she screamed, slamming her bag on the desk.

Remus stifled a laugh and she gave him a deathly stare.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing... It's just... I like it when you curse in Italian..."

"You know what? _Vai a quel paese anche tu!_ [Go to hell, you too!]"

" _Anche io?_ [Me too?] Who else?"

"Take a guess..."

"James and Sirius?"

"And the most intuitive guy awards goes to... Remus Lupin!"

He smiled again at his female best friend. "What did they do this time?"

He never got the answer, though, because right then someone else entered the classroom.

"Oh, my God! He's here! I can't breathe... _Come sto, Remus? Sto bene?_ [How do I look, Remus? Do I look good?]" Chiara asked agitated, trying to revive her hair.

"You're beautiful... As usual..." he answered darkly. He hated Matthew Corner, hated his haughtiness, hated that longing in Chiara's eyes anytime she was around him.

"Hi, Matt," she squeaked, blushing violently.

"Hello, Nightingale. Lupin."

He went to sit at the other end of the classroom, of which Remus was glad. Chiara, instead, looked quite disappointed. Remus rolled his eyes at her. "You should forget about him. He's an idiot!"

"He's not. He's so hot!"

"If you say so..." Remus said shrugging. What the hell Chiara saw in Corner, he couldn't guess...

*

"Good afternoon, kids!"

"Good afternoon, Professor McLean."

She smiled to her, to tell the truth few, sixth-year students. "I'm happy to see so many of you still taking this course! I have great projects for you this year!"

"Oh, yeah... Sure... Wonderful projects..." Chiara muttered to Remus. He gave out a cough, probably to disguise a laugh.

"To fully understand Muggle culture, I wish to study with you this year their greatest literature exponent, William Shakespeare!" She paused, as if she expected her students to cheer or something. When no reaction came, she went on, trying to mantain her excitement even if it was clear that she was disappointed. "And to make everything more addictive, we will stage one of his most known works. Romeo and Juliet!"

"She's kidding, isn't she?" Chiara whispered to Remus.

He didn't answer. He was as shocked as she was at the news. Not to say, terrified. He was somehow used to be subject of gossip, being a Marauder and everything, yet he hated to be in the spotlights. Maybe James and Sirius enjoyed it, he surely didn't. Performing on stage... The only idea made him sick with nervousness.

"This class will cure the direction and all the organizative part, while the casting will be opened to all the school. I therefore encourage you to start spreading the news with your schoolmates. Within next week the auditions' schedule will appear on the bulletin board."

*

"She couldn't be serious..." Chiara complained while Remus and she were moving towards the Gryffindor common room after the lesson.

"Of course she couldn't, I'm Sirius!" Sirius exclaimed, appearing all of a sudden behind them.

"Did you hear someone speaking?"

"Oh, come on, Nightingale! You have no sense of humour! By the way, what were you talking about?"

"Are you going to try out for a part? You would be a wonderful Juliet!" Remus said to Chiara, completely ignoring Sirius.

"Please, Rem... Can you imagine me, on a balcony... _O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?_ "

"I'm still not following you..."

"You know, Black? You could use some Muggle Studies..."

Sirius huffed annoyed. "Moony, are you going to explain me what's going on?"

"Professor McLean wants to stage Romeo and Juliet."

Sirius gave him a blank stare.

"Romeo and Juliet, Pads... Shakespeare, you know?"

"Shake-what?"

"For Merlin's beard, Sirius! Is it possible you never heard of Shakespeare?"

"Is it something to eat?"

"He was the greatest playwright of sixteenth century's England. Possibly the greatest of all times."

"Never heard about him... And so McLean wants to stage one of his plays? Sounds cool..."

"You think it's cool? I think it's foolish. But you can try out, if you want. Auditions are open to all the school."

"Course I will! What did you say is the play titled?"

"Ro-me-o-and-Ju-li-et."

"Great, I'll check it out! See you later, guys!" And he disappeared, deviating towards the Library.

"Was he serious?"

"Are you really asking me that?"

"No... Forget it..."

*

Monday morning a considerable crowd of students was gathered around the bulletin board in the entrance hall.

"What's going on?" Lily asked curious.

"Oh, Merlin! Must be the auditions' schedule..."

"Auditions' schedule? What for?"

"Didn't I tell you? McLean wants to stage Romeo and Juliet."

"WHAT?!? How could you not tell me?!? I absolutely have to sign up!"

Lily made her way jostling through the crowd. After a while she reemerged wearing a satisfied smile. "Guess who's going to try out for Romeo?"

"Who?"

"Matthew Corner..."

"WHAT?!?"

"I'd propose for Juliet's role, if I were you."

" _Neanche per sogno!_ " [No way!]

"What?"

"Nothing... But I'll never get on the stage, not for all the Galleons in Gringott's."

"I think you could be a good actress..."

Chiara shrugged. Maybe she could be a good actress, thinking about it... And if Matt was going to play Romeo...

"Which part did you propose for?"

"Juliet, of course!"

"Then I can't try out for it, too... I don't want to be in competition with you..."

"Oh, I wouldn't mind. On the contrary, it would be fun."

*

Friday afternoon was the set time for the auditions for Juliet and Romeo's roles. As she took place with Lily in the Great Hall, rearranged for the occasion as a theater, Chiara wondered for the umpteenth time how she'd let the other girl talk her into trying out. _This is foolish_ , she thought, her legs shaking with nervousness.

Not long after, they were joined by Remus and James, who took the seats next to them. "Hi, girls."

"Hi, Remus. Hi, James. You here, too?"

"We're going to try out for Romeo, of course!" James declared cheerfully. He winked at Lily and she turned her back on him. Chiara had a feeling James was there only for her; she couldn't decide if it was more sweet or pathetic.

"Thought you didn't want to act, Rem..."

"Thought you didn't want to, either."

She shrugged. "I changed my mind. What about Sirius? He seemed so enthusiastic..."

"He's going to try out for Mercutio. Said it's a more suitable character for him."

Other people arrived, a little at a time. Nearly twenty girls and a dozen boys, from all years and Houses had showed up. All Houses except Slytherin, in all fairness. Chiara imagined they weren't interested in Muggle plays.

Eventually, when everyone had taken a seat, Professor McLean got up and cleared her throat to draw attention on herself. "Welcome, candidates. As you all know, we're here today to decide who's going to play the main characters of our play. Let me explain you briefly how the auditions will be performed. You will first be tested singularly; for this purpose you'll be asked to read and intepret a monologue of your character. The four girls and the four boys who will be judged best will then be matched in couples and will try to act together. Women first. I'll call you in alphabethical order. Abbott, Janet."

*

Chiara's tension grew more and more while her turn approached. That far, only a couple of girls had done a convincing performance. Lily had been one of the best; everyone had clapped her loudly, although no one as loudly as James Potter.

"Thank you, Miss Morgan. And now... Nightingale, Chiara."

At first, Chiara's voice came out in a trembling whisper, which caused derisive laughter from the audience. She would've sunk with shame, but then she caught Remus and Lily's eye. They were nodding encouragingly in her direction, and she thought that she couldn't deceive them. So she took a deep breath and started again. Once overcome the initial embarassment, she found it wasn't so hard to imagine to be that loving girl of the sixteenth century. She finished to recite her lines, and she was met by complete silence from the whole Great Hall. Had she really been that horrible?

Professor McLean blinked a couple of times, as if trying to wake up from a trance. "Alright... So, now, Miss Nott, I think..."

"Chiara! You... you were amazing!" Remus said as soon as Chiara joined them again.

"Divine! You made me cry!" Lily declared and engulfed her in a hug.

"Yeah, Nightingale. I'm impressed. You were nearly as good as Lily." James added.

"She was a lot better than me..." Lily protested. Strangely, though, she seemed to have appreciated the compliment, despite of whom it was from. A proud smile appeared on her lips, and she also blushed a little... What was happening? Was Lily softening towards Potter? Was it possible that Alice was right?

"Well... Thanks, I guess..."

*

Chiara did her best to keep her attention on the other girls' auditions, but she couldn't quite concentrate on it, cause she got distracted by either casting glances in Matt's direction or arching her eyebrows at Remus, who seemed unable to stop staring at her.

Eventually, the auditions for Juliet's role ended, and it was the boys' turn.

Chiara cheered loudly for Corner. He was objectively very good, like it was to be expected. That guy seemed to be perfect in everything, a fact that annoyed Remus to no end.

Then Remus' turn came, and he wondered why on earth had he decided to take part in this. Chiara clapped him on the shoulder in an encouraging way and he took all his Gryffindor's bravery and got on the stage. Everyone's eyes were on him and for an instant he was tempted to run away. Then he concentrated on Chiara's face. It was as if everyone else had disappeared. He recited his lines imagining that only her was there to listen and he felt surprised by how simple and natural it came to him. The applause was loud when he ended, which shocked him a little. Maybe there really was a possibility that Romeo's role could be his.

*

James, Remus, Lily and Chiara were pleasantly surprised to discover that they were all among the finalists. Lily and Chiara were a little less pleased when McLean announced the pairings for the second part of the auditions.

"Miss Sullivan and Mr Corner."

"Oh, no! This is not fair!" Chiara complained, unable to restrain herself.

"Miss Evans and Mr Potter."

"What?!? She's kidding!!!" Lily exclaimed outraged.

"Miss Fisher and Mr Wilkinson."

That left only... Chiara turned to look at Remus, who returned her glance smiling widely. It could've gone worse, she guessed. Yet, acting a romantic scene with her longtime best friend... So terribly awkward...

The scene they had to recite was the one of the ball.

Matthew and Annabel Sullivan's performance wasn't anything thrilling. They were both good, but there was no heat between the two. Chiara blamed it all on Sullivan, of course. If _she_ had been the one acting with Matt, surely it would've been a total different story.

Lily and James' performance was something Chiara was sure would be registered in Hogwarts' annuals forever. James was so passionate Lily forgot it was just fiction. At the word "kiss", she slapped him hard on the face and screamed. "I'll never kiss you, Potter! Not if you were the last man on earth!"

It required a lot of time and convincing from Chiara's part to calm Lily down, but once she got back on the stage they did great.

Then it came Emily Fisher and Peter Wilkinson's turn. They were cute, but clearly too embarassed to be convincing. Too young, Chiara thought.

Finally, Chiara and Remus' turn arrived. They posed their palms over each other to mimic the dancing and Chiara felt her heartbeat accelerating at the contact. She found really difficult to say her lines at the right time, because she kept getting distracted by all the details of Remus' face she'd never noticed before. For example, the colour of his eyes. She knew he had green eyes, of course, but she'd never noticed the golden cast they occasionally took on. At the end of the scene she nearly kissed him for real, but fortunately the audience's applause brought her out of the day-dream. Merlin, she'd nearly kissed her best friend... And right under Matt's eyes... What was wrong with her?

*

After a good half hour, Professor McLean finally declared she'd arrived to a verdict. Chiara crushed Lily's hand, which made the other girl roll her eyes. Lily had no doubt Chiara would have the part, only Chiara herself could doubt it.

"An applause for our Juliet and Romeo, Chiara Nightingale and Remus Lupin!"

"What?!?" the two of them cried in chorus, stunned.

"And as backup, Lily Evans and James Potter."

The two of them turned to look at each other and smiled proudly. It was certainly more than Lily had expected.

"This is all for today, I suppose. You'll be noticed once we'll start the rehearsals. Good afternoon to everyone."

*

"Okay, so I just have to hope that you'll get some strange illness..."

"Lily..."

"I didn't mean anything deathly, of course... Even better, a panic attack the opening night!"

"Lils, stop it!"

"Okay, okay... Just kidding..."

"Well, girls... Sorry to interrupt this interesting conversation, but Romeo and substitute-Romeo are wanted elsewhere," James said, winking. He took Remus by the elbow, and he and Chiara both rolled their eyes.

"See you at dinner, then," Lily greeted them, in an unusual, when talking to James, kind tone.

"Yeah... At dinner... Bye..." Remus said, a little embarassed. And the two of them disappeared.

"Okay, Chiara... Now that we've freed ourselves of those two nuisances... Let's talk about you and Lupin..."

"Me and Remus? Me and Remus what?"

"Not to doubt your great acting abilities, but... The way you were looking at each other before, during the audition... Did I miss something?"

"Dunno what you're talking about," she said, but her cheeks were on flame. "He is my best friend, he's been since... well... forever. What about you and Potter, instead? You seemed to tolerate him quite well today..."

"So what? He's been acting civilly for once and I'm not so biased as to not realize it."

"Okay, if you say so..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?_ [Romeo and Juliet – Act II – Scene II]


	3. Wherefore art thou, Remus?

September flew away in a rush. It was as if someone had pressed the fast-forward button in Chiara's life. Among the lessons, the homeworks and the rehearsals, she seemed to barely have time to eat and sleep.

In all that frenzy, Matthew Corner had been driven away from the forefront of her mind, where he'd resided for so long. She was amazed by how little she seemed to care about him, after having been in love with him for years. She still thought he was hot, but that was it. All the day-dreaming, the staring in class, the _one day we'll marry and have at least ten children_ mental projects, had suddenly become past, so quickly she hadn't even realized when or how it had happened.

Or maybe she did. Because, ever since the auditions, any day-dream she would find the time to indulge into would imply her best friend's sparkled-with-gold eyes.

Interpreting the two main characters of the play, she and Remus were spending a lot of time together recently, and the more she frequented him, the more she found him amazing. Their friendship, although wonderful, had suddenly become not enough for her and, now that she had realized she fancied him, she believed it had started long before the auditions.

The matter was, she couldn't for her life figure out his feelings. Sometimes he seemed to reciprocate her, but anytime she hinted something, he suddenly turned cold and distant.

"I simply can't understand him..."

"Maybe he's just scared," Lily suggested.

"Scared? Scared of what?"

Lily shrugged. In all honesty, she had no idea. For all she knew, Remus Lupin had been fancying Chiara since first year, even if he'd never confessed it. Sure, he was a strange boy... he was a Marauder with a conscience and a brain, and that was incredible in itself! But why would he reject the girl he so obviously was in love with, she truly couldn't guess.

Chiara sank into her bed with a sigh. She'd thought that she was used to unrequited love, having fancied Matthew Corner to no avail for ages, but this was totally different. And the fact that it felt so difficult didn't make any sense.

"What do I have to do?" she asked, defeated.

"Talk to him... Tell him about your feelings..."

"Great idea! Make him run away! I wonder what's wrong with him?"

"What do you mean, what's wrong with him?" Lily asked curiously.

"There's something about him... Something I can't understand... Something he's been hiding all along, a secret..."

"The Marauders have a lot of secrets."

"You think? I don't really know about them having _a lot_ of secrets..." Chiara commented, lifting herself on her elbow to look at Lily in the eyes. The latter frowned in response, uncertain of what her friend meant by it. "I actually believe they have just one or two huge secrets... And the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that whatever it is they're hiding has more to do with Rem than the other three."

"Why would you say that?"

"Dunno... Just a feeling... Why are you so interested?"

Lily's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, and she diverted her glare from Chiara, embarassed. "Curious. Nothing else."

"So it has nothing to do with the fact that you're always hanging around with James lately?"

"Pardon?"

Fortunately for Lily, Alice and Mary chose that moment to enter the dormitory.

"Hey, girls! What's up?" Alice asked, cheerfully.

"Nothing," Lily and Chiara answered in chorus with a tone not convincing at all.

Alice giggled and disappeared into the bathroom. Mary sat on her bed and studied her housemates doubtfully. "Aren't you supposed to be out patrolling, Lily?"

"I changed my turn with Bones. Tomorrow is her birthday, so she wanted the night free and she asked me if it was alright to change."

"Are you saying Amelia Bones is patrolling with Rem right now?" Chiara intervened suddently, appalled.

"Jealous?"

"Not at all... But I would've preferred if Remus was on patrol with you."

"Yes, you're definitely jealous!" Lily exclaimed, with a mocking grin on her lips.

Chiara rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I'm not sleepy. I think I'll go down to the Common Room to finish that stupid Transfiguration essay."

Before Lily or Mary could say anything, Chiara had already taken the stairs. The Common Room was nearly deserted. Only James, Sirius and Peter were still there, gathered in an angle, muttering mischievously among themselves. Part of Chiara would've approached them, curious to find out what they were plotting, but her most rational part suggested to let them be. First of all, she'd come down there to find some quietness, and second, she didn't want to be involved in any Marauder nonsense. She'd been once, dragged in by Remus, and she'd ended out in detention for a week. She didn't want to repeat the experience.

"Good evening, Juliet!" James called, noticing her. She ignored him and settled herself on the armchair nearest the fireplace.

" _O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!_ "

"Shut up, Potter, or I'll hex you. And I'm serious."

"I'm Sirius!"

"So original, you lot. Leave me alone, will you, please?"

Surprisingly they did. She took out her Transfiguration book, but after reading the first paragraph of the chapter on Conjuring Spells she couldn't concentrate anymore. She closed the book and stared into the fire, until she fell asleep.

She woke up to the touch of someone shaking her shoulder. She blinked a couple of times before she managed to focus who it was. "Remus? Wh-what...?"

"I just came back from patrol and found you here... You fell asleep in the Common Room, I suppose..."

He supposed? Wasn't it obvious?

"Oh... Oh, sure..."

Ok, now she was being even more dumb than him... At least, she had the excuse of just having been waken...

"Maybe you should go to bed."

"Yeah, maybe I should." But she didn't move from where she was. He shifted uncomfortably, unsure if he should leave or stay. Finally he decided to sit down on the armchair opposite hers.

"So, how was patrol?"

"All quiet," he said, shrugging.

"I think your friends are plotting something," she said as an afterthought, suddenly remembering her earlier encounter with the Marauders.

"They are always plotting something," he replied with a small laugh.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. The full moon was coming in two days, and probably James, Sirius and Peter were planning that month's trip. The thought made him feel guilty, but only for a moment. He knew he shouldn't leave the Shack during full moons, but what could possibly go wrong? Padfoot and Prongs were both more than able to hold him off, they'd already proven it in more than one occasion. There was nothing to worry about.

"Are you ok, Rem?"

"Yes... Of course... Why?"

"Nothing..."

They both turned to look at the fireplace without another word. The silence felt awkward, yet conforting at the same time. The screech of an owl brought them back to reality.

"Decidedly we should go to bed."

Remus turned to Chiara perplexed. She was wearing a strange smile, like she'd just made a funny joke that only she could get. "Why?"

"Didn't you hear it? _It was the lark, the herald of the morn._ "

"That's my line!"

"So what?"

"And anyway... _It was the nightingale, and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear._ "

"And now you are the one stealing my lines!"

"So what?"

" _Ti odio!_ " [I hate you!]

"I love you too." He froze, shocked by what he had just said. Then got up in a hurry and moved towards the stairs which led to the boys' dormitories.

"Sorry, Chiara, but it's really late and I'm dead tired. See you tomorrow," he said, without even turning to look at her.

*

Two days after, Remus wasn't at the rehearsals. They were trying the fourth scene of the first act, where there was this dialogue between Romeo and Mercutio in which the first lamented his unrequited love for this unknown and useless Rosaline. Chiara was deadly bored, since she had no role in the scene but was obliged to assist anyway, only Merlin, and Professor McLean, knew why.

Since Remus was absent, James was playing his role. Chiara found stunning how James and Sirius fit perfectly their characters in that scene. She imagined they've had conversations like that, maybe in a little less aulic language, miriads of times, Lily instead of Rosaline being the subject.

She found herself thinking that Romeo wasn't that great of a character after all. A guy who claims endless love for a girl and then he sees another for an istant and totally loses it? How can someone trust a person like that? What had ever Juliet seen in him?

When finally the rehearsals were over, Chiara approached the two Marauders.

"Why wasn't Remus here?" she asked without preamble.

"Good afternoon to you too, Nightingale," Sirius said in a little reproachful tone.

Chiara rolled her eyes. She surely didn't need a lesson in manners from Sirius Black. "Where is Rem?" she asked again.

"In the Hospital Wing," James replied. "Not feeling well..."

"Oh... Then I should go visit him..."

"No!" the two boys cried in unison.

Chiara eyed them suspiciously. "Why not?"

"Because..." James started, then casted a nervous glance in Sirius's direction. "Because Madam Pomfrey will never let you in. He is seriously ill."

"Seriously? What do you mean seriously?" she asked worried.

"Oh, not too seriously... He'll survive... I think he will be alright in a couple of days, but right now..."

"What does he have?" she interrupted him, even more suspicious than before.

"He's got a... flu."

"A flu," she repeated slowly, a skeptical expression on her face.

"Dragon flu," Sirius intervened. "Dangerous. Highly contagious. Not something you want to try, trust me."

"I've never heard of dragon flu before..."

"Course you haven't. It is a rare malady. And..."

"How is it that I don't believe a word?"

"It's because you are too mistrustful," Sirius answered, matter of factly.

"It was a rethorical question, Black. You weren't supposed to answer."

"Well... It's getting late, don't you think, Pads? Maybe we should go..."

"Yes, Prongs, you're right. Bye, Nightingale."

"Bye, Chiara."

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

But they were already out of earshot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!_ [Romeo and Juliet – Act I – Scene V]  
>  _It was the lark, the herald of the morn._ [Romeo and Juliet – Act III – Scene V]  
>  _It was the nightingale, and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear._ [Romeo and Juliet – Act III – Scene V]


	4. Help from Padfoot

It had been ages since the last time a full moon had been so bloody painful. Remus tried to straighten a little in his hospital bed only to feel a terrible twinge in his left shoulder.

"Was it necessary, Sirius?" he complained, massaging the spot where Sirius, in Padfoot form, had sunk his canines into his flesh the night before. "It hurts like hell!"

"Well, Moony... You see... If I didn't react you would've killed me so, yeah, it was necessary."

"You were a little restless last night..." James intervened in a conciliating tone. "Is something wrong, mate?"

"N-no..."

But it was clear that he was lying. And even if he was a good liar, having a lot of experience in hiding things because of his furry little problem, his friends knew him well enough to tell when he wasn't sincere.

"You know what I think, Mr Romeo?" Sirius said challenging. "I think that you are in denial."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your Juliet... Chiara Nightingale, remember? I'm saying that you are in love with her and that you'd better admit it!"

"I'm in love with no one! And I need to sleep, guys... I'm shattered... Literally... So, if you could, please, leave me alone..."

"You need to tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"About your feelings."

"But... Padfoot, I can't!"

"Why?"

"Because."

"Which kind of answer is that?!?"

"I can't because I... because I have a furry little problem, Sirius!"

"And?"

"And I can't risk to hurt her. I'm too dangerous. I can't date Chiara. I can't date anyone."

"You know this is totally idiotic, don't you?"

"It's not! How can't you see it?"

"All I can see is that the girl you've fancied for ages finally fancies you back, and instead of trying to be happy with her you've decided, for Merlin knows what reason, to punish yourself by running away."

"I... I'm not punishing... It's not that simple!"

"Rem's right. We are not all like you, Sirius, that we snap our fingers and all girls fall at our feet."

"I don't think that's exactly the point, Wormy..." James suggested softly.

Peter turned to face him perplexed and Remus would've shaken his head at his friend's thickness, if that simple movement didn't send daggers all over his body.

"Listen, guys. I really need to rest and... Ouch!"

"Ok, Moony. We'll leave you alone. But don't think you're getting away with this so easily. You deserve some happiness, mate. And I won't stop insisting till I'll get some sense in your thick head!"

The three of them left and Remus let escape a sigh. He could see where Sirius was coming from, yet he couldn't agree with him. Chiara needed to stay away from him, for her own good. He loved her too much to let her take the risk of dating a werewolf.

*

It was nearly dinnertime. Lily had just left the Library and was now halfway towards the Common Room, her bag so full of NEWT-level, if not more advanced, Potions and Charms books that it could've exploded.

As she was nearly at the top of the staircase which led to the fourth floor, she heard a voice shouting from behind her.

"Hey, Evans! Evans, stop a minute!"

She did and turned. Then frowned a little, at the sight of Sirius Black running up the stairs towards her. "What do you want, Black?"

He took a few seconds to catch his breath. "I need your help," he answered, still panting.

"My help? And what makes you think that I'll help you?"

His expression darkened. Not that he didn't deserve it, but Lily Evans could be cruel sometime. "Listen, Lily. I know that we aren't exactly friends, but..."

Lily rolled her eyes. Maybe she could've avoided the witty comment, but Sirius Black could be truly snappish sometime. "Just tell me what you need."

"It's about Remus, you know... And your friend Nightingale..."

"What about them?" she asked, suddenly very interested.

"Well... Maybe you didn't notice, but I think there is a bit of attraction between those two."

"I did notice."

"And I just thought Romeo needs a little push from Mercutio, if you know what I mean..."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Don't worry. I have the perfect plan. Do you trust me?"

"Of course not!"

Sirius pretended not to have heard. "Just make sure Juliet arrives in time for the ball, alright?"

" _Id est_?"

"Wednesday evening... No, not Wednesday... Quidditch practise... James would kill me... Let's go for Thursday evening. Eight o'clock. Room of Requirements. We bring them there. We arrange the place, create a bit of atmosphere. You know, candles, rose petals, that sort of things. And we lock them up till they work it out."

"Which could take years..."

"How can you be that optimistic, Evans?" he asked with sarcasm, rolling his eyes.

"I know Chiara. And I might not know Lupin so much, but from the little I saw he's even more shy than her. But I suppose it's worth a try..."

"Great! Always thought you were a smart girl!" he said winking. "See yah, Evans."

"Bye, Black."

*

"But where are we going?" Chiara asked for the umpteenth time.

Lily smiled that mischievous smile Chiara thought was a bit scary on her lips. "Surprise... Just relax and trust me..."

Chiara avoided to point out that Lily's behaviour was everything but trustworthy at the moment. The two girls reached the empty corridor with the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and Chiara's suspects sharpened.

"The Room of Requirements? Ok, Lily, what's going on?"

"Wait and see." She crossed the corridor back and forth for three times and a door appeared in the wall. She disclosed the door a little and peeked inside. "It's perfect!" she exclaimed satisfied.

"What's perfect?"

Right then they heard footsteps approaching. Lily smiled again. Perfect timing. "Ok, go inside."

"Why? What's inside?"

"Someone's coming... Do you want a teacher to get you out of Gryffindor Tower at this hour?"

"It's only eight. Ages from curfew..." But Lily ignored Chiara's complaints and shoved her into the room, then closed the door and put on James' Invisibility Cloak, right in time so to not be seen by the Marauders.

*

"What's going on, guys? What are we doing here?"

"Stop all this questions, Moony. Don't you trust us?"

"Only a fool would trust you, Padfoot."

Sirius laughed and patted Remus on the shoulder. "Great, here we are. Go inside there."

"Why?"

"There's something you need to see. Get inside, we'll join you in a moment."

Every bit of Remus' common sense was screaming at him not to cross that door, but he knew that trying to escape his friends would be useless. So he sighed and opened the door. Once he saw what was waiting there for him, he turned to Sirius enraged. "What does it mean?!?"

"Sorry, mate, but it's time you solve this thing."

He pushed him inside and closed the door behind him. Lily took off the cloak and returned it to James.

"Great job, Evans," Sirius said appreciatively.

"Thanks. You too. Let's just hope it'll work."

"It will, love. You'll see," James said smiling.

"Just because I've collaborated with you this time, Potter, doesn't mean I stopped hating you."

"Yeah, yeah, well... Let's go, now. Give them some privacy," Sirius intervened to cut off what would've become a never-ending bickering. And the four of them moved away towards the Gryffindor Tower.

*

Chiara and Remus studied each other in silence for a bit. Then Remus smiled weakly. "Well, they did it in a big way..." he said, looking around at the romantic environment.

"Oh, yeah... Big way indeed... I'm going to kill Lily..."

"Lily? Was she on this too?"

"She brought me here."

Remus nodded. Then, not knowing what else to do, he sat down on the two-seater couch. After a few second's hesitation, Chiara also sat on the couch next to him.

"Alright. What do we do now?"

"Dunno..."

Chiara tentatively reached out and took Remus' hand. At first he seemed to want to retract it, but then he returned her clasp.

"I suppose they expect us to talk," he said softly, nodding towards the door.

Chiara turned to look at him in the eyes but said nothing. He tried to think about something to say, but it seemed like his brain had jammed. He couldn't understand what was going on with him. He used to find so easy talking to her.

Her light brown eyes gleamed in the semidarkness. He blinked a couple of times and his heart beat accelerated as her face moved closer.

"No. Chiara. Stop."

She reopened her eyes and looked at him with a questioning and hurt look. "What's the matter?"

"This isn't right!" he exclaimed nervously, getting up and moving away from the couch. "I can't... We can't..."

"What isn't right, Rem?!" she asked angrily, getting on her feet as well. "Would your girlfriend be angry at you?"

He gave her a pointy look. "You know I have no girlfriend."

"What's so wrong then, Remus John Lupin?"

"I... It's complicated..."

"What's complicated? Do you fancy me or do you not?"

"I... No... I fancy no one..." She looked at him skeptically. "Or maybe I do, but that's not the point."

She approached him again and forced him to look at her. "Listen, Remus. I'm scared too. I'm scared because you are my best friend, and if this doesn't work out well, it could ruin our friendship. But I think it's worth the risk. We would just hurt ourselves if we suffocate our feelings. Do you find that right?"

"No," he said in a soft voice, just a little more than a whisper.

"Then why flinch? Why prevent _two blushing pilgrims_ from _smoothing a rough touch with a tender kiss_?"

"When will you stop stealing my lines?" he asked, finally managing a little amused smile.

"Since Romeo is supposed to take the initiative, but apparently he seems unable to do so, then I suppose it's up to Juliet, don't you think?"

" _Then sweeten with thy breath this neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue unfold the imagined happiness that both receive in either by this dear encounter._ "

She neared him a little more and this time he didn't pull back. With his heart drumming wildly in his chest, he closed his eyes and posed his lips on hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _[...] two blushing pilgrims [...] to smooth a rough touch with a tender kiss_ from Romeo and Juliet – Act I – Scene V  
>  _Then sweeten with thy breath this neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue unfold the imagined happiness that both receive in either by this dear encounter._ from Romeo and Juliet – Act II – Scene VI


	5. The Capulets' curse

Something was wrong. Chiara's lips felt too cold and motionless on Remus', her body too heavy and flabby in his arms. He broke the only hinted kiss and found himself holding Chiara's unconscious body.

"Chiara! Chiara, wake up!" he cried, shaking her.

She didn't react. Trying to contain the sudden surge of panic clutching him, he took her to the couch and laid her down.

"Rennervate!" he cried, pointing his wand to her chest. Nothing happened.

"No! Chiara, please, wake up! Please, love! Open your eyes! Rennervate! Rennervate!"

For a moment, Remus feared she was dead. Then he noticed her chest slowly rising and falling. She was still breathing, thank Merlin. "Ok, Remus. Try not to panic, now. Surely Madam Pomfrey will know what to do. You just need to take Chiara to the Hospital Wing and-"

In the exact moment the thought formed in Remus' mind, the door opened on its own accord, not on the seventh floor's corridor, but right into Madam Pomfrey's office. "Mr Lupin? What are you doing there? And what does a door do on my office's wall?"

"There's no time, Madam Pomfrey! I need your help! She fainted and she doesn't wake up! Please, help her! Do something!"

Madam Pomfrey hadn't noticed Chiara till that moment. She tried to Rennervate her, to no avail like Remus. Then she felt her pulse and forehead, and she performed some complicated charms Remus didn't recognize. No reaction came from Chiara.

"What happened exactly?"

"I don't know... We were just..." He stopped and blushed violently. Madam Pomfrey frowned at him. "You were just?"

"We were just... talking. And then she fainted, all of a sudden."

Madam Pomfrey was quite sure they hadn't been _just talking_ , but she didn't press the matter. She took the girl to one of the beds and tried some other charms and poured a few potions down her throat. Nothing seemed to have any effect.

"I can't understand what's wrong with her... Mr Lupin, will you please call the Headmaster?"

Remus didn't want to leave Chiara's side, but if Dumbledore could help... He nodded and left the Hospital Wing in a rush.

*

Neither Madam Pomfrey nor Dumbledore managed to do anything to help Chiara or to understand what had happened. After at least an hour and a half of trying anything they could think of, Dumbledore left to inform the Nightingales of their daughter's conditions, and Madam Pomfrey returned to her office, hoping to find some hint in her Healing books.

Remus sat on a chair next to Chiara's bed and refused categorically to go back to his dormitory. He fell asleep at a certain point during the night, he wasn't sure when or how, and was waken up the following morning by the sun shining through the window.

He needed a few moments to remember where he was and what had happened the previous evening, but when he did his heart dropped seeing Chiara's bed empty.

"Madam Pomfrey! Madam Pomfrey, come! Quick!"

She ran out of her office in a hurry, her robes creased and her eyes rimmed after a whole night spent in the unsuccessful attempt of finding a solution to Miss Nightingale's misterious illness.

"Mr Lupin, what happened?" she asked concerned.

"She isn't here! Her bed is empty!"

"What?"

Dumbledore entered the Hospital Wing right in that moment, followed by a dispirited man and an angry and nervous woman. The Headmaster led the couple, who Remus guessed must've been Chiara's parents, to the bed where the girl had been lying the night before and his eyes grew wide in confusion when he noticed she was missing.

"Professor... I don't know what happened... She was there until I fell asleep, but when I woke up she was gone... I have no idea..." Remus' voice failed him as tears started to well up in his eyes. He didn't even try to fight them back, he knew it would be useless. Despite everything he'd been through with his furry little problem, he'd never felt so scared and helpless before.

"What does this mean, Dumbledore?!" the woman cried enraged. "Where's my daughter?!?"

"I'm afraid I have no answer, Anna..." he said defeated.

"You!" she shouted, pointing a menacing finger to Remus. "You are the cause of all this, aren't you? Who are you? What did you do to her?"

Remus flinched at Anna Nightingale's accusing tone. He knew he had done nothing to Chiara, still he felt all of a sudden guilty. "I... I..." he muttered, unsure about what to say.

"Anna, love... Calm down... You can't accuse a random boy..."

" _Non dirmi di stare calma_ [Don't tell me to stay calm], Jason!"

Her aggressive attitude reminded Remus of... well... of himself. It was like a wolf resided inside her, a wolf she couldn't always take under control. And suddenly his own inside-wolf grew restless, feeding in all the fear and confusion and hurt he'd tried to suffocate since the previous evening's events. "I did nothing to Chiara!" he screamed, loudly and angrily. All eyes fell on him, giving him the impression of being a wounded animal surrounded by hunters. It was a wonder he didn't gnash his fangs and howl.

Anna probably expected something similar, too, because she paled all of a sudden and fell on a chair, staring at Remus with a mix of disbelieving and fear. "This isn't possible..."

"Anna... Are you..." her husband started, concerned, posing a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged him away. "I need to talk to the boy. Alone." Her tone was one that didn't admit replies, and nobody dared complain. They all left, leaving the two of them to their staring contest.

It was Remus who broke the silence. "I swear, Mrs. Nightingale. I can't explain what..."

"You are a werewolf, aren't you?" she interrupted him.

He opened his mouth in stupor. How did she know? "I..."

"A kind werewolf, moreover." She sighed and rubbed her temples tiredly. "It's all my fault! I should've warned her! How could I've been that stupid?"

"I don't understand."

"Course you don't. _Non hai idea di che cosa hai fatto._ [You have no idea of what you did.]"

"I. Did. Nothing."

She looked at him bewildered. "You speak Italian?"

"I understand it a little... My mother is of Italian origin, too... My grandparents live in Rome."

"You are Remus Lupin, right? Chiara talked to me about you." He nodded stiffly. "But I thought the two of you were just friends," she added, giving him a mistrustful glance.

"We were. Then that stupid play..."

"Play?"

"Didn't Chiara tell you? She and I are going to play Romeo and Juliet. Or at least, we were supposed to..."

Unexpectedly, Anna laughed. It wasn't an amused laughter, more a bitter one, but it was still the last reaction Remus would've expected. "Sorry. But this is just so absurd."

"What is?"

"Did you know that _Romeo Montecchi_ and _Giulietta Capuleti_ , or Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet as you would probably call them, existed for real and were a wizard and a witch?"

Remus looked at her bewildered. She smiled knowingly. "It wasn't uncommon for noble families, to have wizarding blood. Obviously they kept it secret, especially in Italy where the Church, and consequently the Inquisition, were so influent. Anyway, the _Montecchi_ and the _Capuleti_ were two influent wizarding families of Verona. They didn't love each other, but there wasn't that much hatred either. Shakespeare's version of the story isn't exactly faithful. They tolerated each other quite well, at least until the tragedy fell on the _Montecchi_ family."

She gave Remus a meaningful look and his eyes widened in understanding. "You mean... You mean Romeo... had a furry little problem?"

"A what?"

"I mean, he was a werewolf?"

She nodded. "He was bitten as a little child. His parents tried their best to keep it secret, to protect people from their son and viceversa."

"Sounds familiar..." Remus commented darkly.

"Yes, I guess you and Romeo have a lot in common. Anyway, despite of all the difficulties, Romeo grew up as _a virtuous and well-govern'd youth_ , to use Shakespeare's words. Then, during a ball, he met _Giulietta_. The two fell in love with each other. You can imagine the _Capuleti_ 's reaction when they learned _Giulietta_ was dating a werewolf."

"I surely can."

"They ran away together. Married in secret, which is probably the only thing Shakespeare got straight. They found a place where they could live, hidden from everyone. They even had a child."

"A child?!"

"A daughter. _Lucia_. My great-great-great-grandmother."

"You... You are a descendant of Romeo and Juliet?"

"And so is Chiara, obviously, which is exactly our problem."

"I don't understand. What does it all have to do with..."

"The night _Romeo_ and _Giulietta_ were killed..."

"Killed? I thought they committed suicide."

"In Shakespeare's version, which isn't exactly faithful, as I already said. Anyway... _Giuletta_ 's family found them eventually. They only wanted to take her back home, but things got out of hand. _Giulietta_ 's mother decided to raise her orphan granddaughter. But she couldn't permit that some other... werewolf... ruined her family again. So she casted a curse. If one of her descendants would fall for a werewolf..."

"And this curse... What exactly..."

"Nobody knows..."

"But... This isn't fair. It was just a kiss. Just one, small, stupid, innocent kiss."

"There's nothing small, nor stupid, nor innocent, in a kiss."

"But..."

"Why my daughter? You are a sweet and handsome boy. Surely hundreds of girls chase you. Why my daughter?"

"I've never meant to. I've always thought I shouldn't date anyone, because of what I am. And I've tried to stay away from Chiara, but it wasn't possible... She's just so stubborn..."

Anna smiled. It was somewhat sadly, but it was the first genuine smile she addressed him since they first met that morning. "Here. Take this," she told him gently, throwing him an old booklet. "Maybe you'll find in there something I couldn't see..."

"What is it?" he asked puzzled.

" _Giulietta_ 's mother's diary. Everything I told you and some more details are in there..."

"But..." he tried to protest. "But I can't keep it. It's yours..."

"I know it by heart by now. It's not a present, anyway. Just a lending. I'm confident you'll do whatever is in your power to save my daughter, won't you?"

Remus lowered his gaze to the ground and once again his eyes prickled with tears. "I don't even know where to start..."

For a bit, Anna remained silent. Then she asked, nearly as an afterthought. "Do you love her?"

Did he? Remus wasn't sure. He had no experience with that sort of things. Love was Sirius' area of expertise... Or maybe not... Remus doubted Sirius had ever been truly in love with anyone... He forced himself to cross her glare once again. "I honestly don't know," he answered sincerely. She raised an eyebrow.

"I mean... I like her," he felt the need to elaborate. "The way she walks, and talks, and laughs. And I like to spend time with her. And I care for her, I want her to be safe, and happy."

"And you would do anything to see her happy? Would you put her wellbeing and happiness above your own?"

"I suppose so..."

Anna smiled again, sweetly, and posed a hand on Remus' shoulder. "Well, my boy. I think this goes under the definition of love."

Then she moved away, leaving Remus there, alone, speechless, Lady Capulet's diary clung tightly in his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _a virtuous and well-govern'd youth_ from Romeo and Juliet – Act I – Scene V


	6. Someone to blame

The door of the Hospital Wing closed behind Anna Nightingale, and Remus was still fixed where he was, paralized. It was as if he'd forgot how to move altogether.

_It was all my fault._

He took a tentative step forward. Then another. His legs were reluctant to collaborate, but he reached the door and grabbed the handle just the same.

_All my fault._

He got out and a wave of fresh air flooded him. Even if he'd spent a lot more hours that he was willing to admit in the Hospital Wing, he'd never noticed how much the air inside there smelled of sanitizer and all sorts of healing potions, probably because whenever he'd left from there after recovering from a full moon, he'd always been still too dizzy to notice.

Not far away from him, Dumbledore and the Nightingales were discussing in muffled voices. Anna turned towards Remus and gave him a stiff nod. He didn't return it. That stern and emotionless look in her eyes, Mr. Nightingale's evident despair, Dumbledore's equally evident concern, made him nauseous.

He walked past them, not daring to meet their eyes, putting a great effort in resisting the impulse to run away. He didn't want to look unpolite, or even worse guilty, but at the same time he wanted to put the more distance from them he could the quickest possible.

_All my fault._

Without realizing where he was heading, he found himself at the entrance of the Great Hall. Breakfast wasn't an option, he was sure he would never be able to swallow anything... But he could use some company, maybe the crowd of students would distract him a bit... Maybe...

He crossed the entrance and immediatly regretted it. All the cheerful chatting around was only causing his heart to ache more.

_All..._

And then Sirius' bark-like laugh reached his ears.

"YOUR FAULT!" he cried, as he approached the other Marauders. They were enjoying themselves in such a blatant and boisterous way that should've been forbidden by law.

"Moony, mate... What's up?" Remus ignored James. His fist collided onto Sirius' face, so hard Remus' knuckles pulsed in pain.

"Have you gone totally crazy?!" Sirius shouted, dabbing his bleeding nose.

"Why did you have to do it?! Why did you have to ruin everything?!" Tears filled his eyes once again. He hadn't been crying that much since his first transformations as a little kid. He turned his back on his friends and ran out the Hall.

*

"Does this mean things with Chiara didn't go well yesterday evening?" James asked, to no one in particular.

Sirius honestly didn't know what to think. Even if Chiara had turned Remus down, which seemed unlikely seeing how she'd been acting around him recently, that wouldn't explain Remus' reaction.

"Dunno," he answered. Then he pointed at his nose. "Can you please do something for this?"

"Oh, sure... Sorry, Pads." James took out his wand and pointed it at Sirius' face, then spelled “Episkey”. Sirius immediately stopped losing blood.

Right then, Lily, Alice and Mary arrived and sat across from the boys. Lily noticed that Sirius' face was caked with blood.

"What did you do, Black? Don't tell me you got into a fight this early in the morning!" she exclaimed, somehow reproachfully.

"Good morning to you too, Evans. Always so charming..." Sirius commented darkly.

"She's my girl, of course she's charming!"

Sirius and Lily both rolled their eyes, but otherwise ignored James' comment.

"Anyway, no. I didn't _get into a fight_... Unless you call it that way if a random person comes and punches you without any reason or warning..."

She gave him a doubtful glance, but before she could talk back her attention was drawn to Dumbledore, who entered the Great Hall right in that instant, with a dark expression on his face.

"What's going on with everyone today?" Sirius asked, noticing the Headmaster's odd demeanor as well.

Dumbledore reached the authority table and coughed to gain the students attention. "I'm sorry to disrupt your bright morning and your surely vital exchange of jokes and gossip bringing bad news, but sadly I have to." He sighed, and the Marauders and the girls exchanged worried glances, while the Great Hall filled with quiet buzzing. Dumbledore raised a hand, and the silence filled the Hall at once. "Your schoolmate, Chiara Nightingale, has gone missing."

"WHAT?" Lily and Sirius screamed together, while James turned to Peter puzzled and whispered "Missing?"

"I expect you all to immediatly report to the teachers if you come to learn anything about Miss Nightingale's conditions and whereabouts. Now you can get back to your breakfast. Thank you."

"What... How..." Lily babbled, shocked.

"Well... This explains Remus' behaviour..." James stated.

"But why would he blame _me_?!" Sirius protested.

James only shrugged, while giving his friend a pityful look.

"Blame you?" Lily asked, perplexed. Then her eyes widened in understanding. "You mean... It was Remus that..."

"Broke my nose? Yeah!"

"D'you reckon something happened yesterday when we left them in the Room of Requirements?"

"I don't know..." Sirius muttered. "But, I mean... She can't have simply disappeared into thin air, now can she?"

"Maybe we should ask Rem..."

"Oh, sure! You go ahead, Prongs!" Sirius spatted sarcastically. Then he looked at his still half full plate, with a revolted expression. "I've lost the appetite. See you later." And he got to his feet and left the Great Hall.

*

James spent the day with the only company of Peter and, strangely enough, Lily. He kept throwing glances to his two other best friends, but they were both in a too foul mood to try to talk to them. He could very well understand Remus' bad temper, but he honestly found his attitude towards them a bit unfair. It wasn't like they had kidnapped his girlfriend or anything...

He was partly glad, even if he knew that he shouldn't have, that he was getting to spend some time with the girl of his dreams. Lily was simply distraught over her best friend's disappearence, which meant that he could try to cheer her up and finally show her he wasn't an insensible git. Even if he really was acting like one. He should've felt concerned for Chiara, instead of basking in Lily's sudden need of him... He just couldn't help himself.

*

Peter was simply annoyed. He hated when his friends fought... Hated it because whenever it happened they seemed to forget that he existed. Not that they acted like he existed in normal circumstances, but when they fought over something it became a lot worse. It was just like last year's Snape-and-the-Willow accident. Here they were, Sirius and Remus, glaring at each other like they could kill. And James _I'm-oh-so-cool_ Potter, who should have been the one caught in the middle and, consequently, the one who stuck with him, had only eyes for _Miss Perfection_ Lily Evans. Sometimes he wondered just why he was still bothering hanging around with them.

*

Sirius was feeling horrible. Everything simply didn't make any sense. He was seriously upset about Nightingale. What could have ever happened to her? But what hurt the most was Remus' behaviour. He'd just tried to help... He wanted his friend to be happy with the girl he loved... How could Remus blame anything that had happened, whatever it was, on him? How could he, who was practically a brother, be so cold and cruel? Why couldn't he, at least, talk to him and tell him whatever it was in his thick mind openly? Make him understand what was his unforgivable crime? Give him the chance of justify himself, if there even was something to justify?

*

_Desperate_ didn't even begin to describe Remus' state at the moment. Everything felt just wrong without Chiara by his side. Everything felt meaningless, everything felt useless. He alternated moments in which he was overwhelmed by his guilt, to moments in which he simply felt like he could've died out of pain. To top it all, there was the fact that he couldn't even count on his friends anymore. Part of him knew that he was being unfair to them... Yet he couldn't help but be angry at them all, especially at Sirius. Sirius was responsible of everything nearly as much as Remus himself was. If he had just minded his own business, instead of throwing him into Chiara's arms...

For the umpteenth time Remus cursed himself, Sirius, himself, James, Peter and Lily, himself, Anna Nightingale, himself, Lady Capulet and her bloody curse, himself, Romeo Montague and his damned lycanthropy, himself, Juliet Capulet, who had to fell in love with the stupid werewolf, himself, Professor McLean, himself, William Shakespeare, himself...

He threw a last hateful stare in Sirius' direction, then decided he should as well start reading the bloody diary. Who knew? Maybe he was actually going to find a hint that had gone unnoticed to Chiara's mother. And anyway, it would be better than keep lamenting how unfair life was to him. He would at least be doing something.


	7. So sorry, Sev.

Avery burst into a coarse laugh at Mulciber's joke, some silly one of the _there are a Pureblood, a Halfblood and a Mudblood_ kind. Severus hadn't been actually listening, but from Avery's guffaw it was clear that it was the part where he was supposed to be amused, so he forced a little smile on his lips.

"Nice one, Isaac," he pretended to compliment him.

"Thanks, Severus," Mulciber answered, looking proud.

Severus had to put a huge effort not to roll his eyes at him. His two best friends were among the thickest people he had ever known in his life. But they seemed to be the only ones willing to befriend him in all the school, so he supposed he should as well tolerate their stupidity.

He ate a couple of forkfuls of scrambled eggs, while nodding from time to time when it seemed Avery and Mulciber expected him to agree on something. Then, suddenly, a shout caught his attention.

"YOUR FAULT!"

He lifted his glare just in time to see Lupin, the bloody monster, punch hard Black's ugly face. An amused smirk crossed his face, if only for a moment. That must've been the first time in his life that he would cheer for the damned werewolf. He was nearly tempted to go and shake his hand.

"Hey, did you see that?" Avery asked, pointing towards tha Marauders.

"So what? This is not the first time they have a row," Mulciber commented, uninterested. "Remember last year? After Potter saved your life, Severus..."

"He _didn't_ save my life! He saved his bloody arse from expulsion!"

"Whatever..."

Severus' mood worsened consistently. Not that he'd been in high spirit to begin with, but Mulciber's reminder about the night in which Lupin nearly killed him hadn't helped at all.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore was calling their attention to give some speech of sorts... Even if Severus despised the old dotard, he couldn't help but feel a little concerned by the Headmaster's stern look. Whatever upset Dumbledore that way couldn't be any good...

"I'm sorry to disrupt your bright morning and your surely vital exchange of jokes and gossip bringing bad news, but sadly I have to." Dumbledore sighed and Severus' eyebrows furrowed. This sounded worse than he expected. He kept staring intently at the old man, patiently waiting for him to go on.

"Your schoolmate, Chiara Nightingale, has gone missing."

Missing? What the hell did it mean, missing?! He turned to look again towards the Gryffindor table and a certain, gorgeous, red-headed girl who was sitting there with her back turned on him. She was whispering agitated to the Marauders and the other Gryffindor girls of their year, but her best friend, who was supposed to be sitting right next to her, was not there.

"Chiara..." Severus murmured, shocked.

"What?" Avery asked him, perplexed.

"Nothing." He couldn't explain to his friends what Chiara meant to him. He couldn't explain them that, ever since Lily had stopped talking to him, Chiara had been his lifeline. She was the only one who was still disposed to listen to him, the only one with whom he could be truly and totally himself.

He couldn't lose her, too. He just couldn't. Where would he go, now, when he needed to confide in someone? Who would he talk to now about his feelings for Lily Evans and his projects to win her back?

To be totally true, Chiara wasn't exactly with him on this... Their recent conversations had gone more or less like this:

"Who's the second most beautiful girl in the school?"

"Not now, Snape!"

"Come on... I just want to talk... Just a moment?"

"What if I don't want to?"

"I've just been wondering if you and Lily have been talking about me..."

"Honestly, we're trying to avoid the subject."

"But you're going to put in a good word... Aren't you?"

"Listen, Severus! She doesn't want to talk to you! And I can't blame her, after what you did!"

"I already apologized for that!"

"Apologizing isn't enough... Now, if you don't mind, I'm in a hurry. They're waiting me for the rehearsals."

"You're always busy with that stupid play! And when you're not, you're always hanging around with that freak of Lupin! You should stay away from him!"

"I hang around with whoever I please!"

"Ok... Sorry... So, are you going to talk to Lily?"

"Aaargh! Sev, I'm begging you... _Lasciami in pace!_ " [Leave me at peace!]

Yes, in the last month she'd decidedly been a lot colder to him than she was before the _Mudblood incident_ with Lily last June. But she was still the closest thing to a friend he had (if you don't count Avery and Mulciber... And whoever would count Avery and Mulciber?)

*

That day, even if not the worst of his life, surely was among the first ten... Avery and Mulciber, sensing their friend's discomfort, even if they couldn't really give a reason for it, tended to ignore him; Severus could get quite scary when he was in a bad mood.

He needed to blow off steam with someone but... Wasn't he the luckiest guy out there? The only person who could've done for him was exactly the only person he couldn't find anywhere.

As if that wasn't enough, Lily seemed to be getting all love and harmony with Potter. Anytime Severus posed his eyes on them, he felt like throwing up. He would've given everything he owned, not that it was much, to get her alone to try to talk to her or to get him alone to hex his bloody ass. Unfortunately, it seemed like someone had casted a Permanent Sticking Charm over the two.

*

Things didn't go better the next few days. It wasn't until the following Monday that Severus actually got the chance to get Lily alone.

Lupin had finally stopped avoiding his friends altogether, so Potter had his little gang back and was slightly less keen on spending every single instant with Lily. She, on her hand, seemed a tiny bit more serene and a little less forgetful about how much she loathed the arrogant prat.

So, after the longest double potion class in history, once the _magnificent four_ had, thank Merlin for that, left, laughing and joking among each other like the fat-headed gits they were, he quickly put away his stuff and joined Lily at Slughorn's desk.

"Oh, Severus, my boy! Glad you joined us, too! I was just telling to Miss Evans that I'll have a little party Saturday evening and..."

"I would be honored to partecipate, Sir," Severus interrupted, earning a satisfied smile from his teacher. Then he turned towards the girl. "Lily... May I talk to you? Just a minute?"

Lily paled. She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. Not after all that had happened. But she couldn't turn him down... Not in front of a Professor... Not when he was being so polite... She nodded. "Yes, sure."

She followed him reluctantly, after a quick goodbye to Professor Slughorn. She realized she hadn't answered to his invitation. Maybe she would manage to escape the Slug Club party for once.

Once they were out of anybody's earshot, she crossed her arms tightly in front of her chest and studied Snape with annoyment. "So... What do you want, _Snivellus_?" She emphasized the nickname, and he felt like she'd just slapped him. She could be cruel sometimes.

"Listen, Lils..."

"Don't call me Lils!"

" _Lily_ , then. I'm sorry, ok?"

"Thought we've already gone through this."

"Yeah, we have! But apparently you weren't listening!"

"Is that all?" she asked coldly. He sighed. Everything was going just _oh so wonderfully_... Was there any possibility to have a conversation with Lily without fighting?

"Listen... This is not about us..."

"Never knew there was an _us._ "

"About _me_ , then! I just wanted to... Well... I wanted to ask you... Do you have any clue about what happened to Chiara?"

Lily had expected anything but this. Her eyes filled with tears at the thought of her lost best friend.

"Oh, no... Please, Lils... Don't cry... I never meant to..."

"Don't touch me!" she screamed. He jumped back, visibly hurt.

For a bit they stayed silent. Then Lily wiped her tears away and stared at Severus mistrustfully. "Why would you care, anyway?"

"Because she's my friend!" he answered with rage.

"Your friend? Since when was Chiara your friend?"

"Well... She is..." he rebated, defensively. Then added, in a depressed tone. "Or was... Or whatever... What the hell happened to her?!?"

"Don't you think I would've already done something, if I knew?!?"

Obviously she would... And Severus started feeling like an idiot... "Yes, sorry... It's just... I miss her so badly..."

"I miss her too... Whatever happened between us, Sev?"

"Thought there wasn't an us."

She rolled her eyes and he smiled weakly. Maybe their friendship wasn't as behond repair as she stated and he feared. "We could restart from where we left..." he suggested tentatively.

She shook her head, even if he could read the longing in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Sev... I just can't... Gotta go, now. I'll be late for Transfiguration."

She turned on her heels and moved away from him. He'd never felt more lonely in his life.

*

That evening, once Lily sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for dinner, she found at her usual spot a candid lily and a little piece of parchment waiting for her. On it, in Severus' neat handwriting was a single word: _Always_. She wasn't exactly sure what it meant, but it made her sadder than she was willing to admit. She gave a quick glance towards the Slytherin table, but immediately diverted her eyes when Severus noticed and glanced back. She'd lost his friendship forever; there was no way they could _restart from where they left_ , as he put it earlier that day... and now she'd lost Chiara, too... What was she going to do? Why was life so unfair?

Then the Marauders made their entrance, and she found herself smiling at the sight of James' disheveled hair. Maybe those four weren't as bad as she'd thought in the beginning. Maybe she wasn't as alone as she was feeling a few istants before. She quickly Vanished the flower and the parchment and she didn't complain when James threw himself in the seat next to her and encircled her shoulders with his arm.

"So, Lily, my love. Will you go out with me?"

The Marauders' reaction was hilarious. Remus sighed and shook his head. Peter screamed "Oh, no! He did it again!" and hid under the table, overthrowing the pumpkin juice pitcher in the process. Sirius shut his eyes and covered his ears with his hands, as if he expected a bomb to explode.

James was simply staring at her, with a mix of hope and worry that made her think about a child who'd just asked his parents for a really expensive gift. Blushing a little and in a quiet voice, she answered, "Yes... I suppose I will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Always_ is a quote from  _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_  by J.K. Rowling, Chapter 33 - The Prince's Tale.


	8. Huge furry problems

It had been nearly a month by now. Remus wasn't sure how he'd managed to survive that long. He still wasn't talking to the other Marauders, unless it was strictly necessary. Not that he was still angry at them... Well, maybe a little... He just didn't feel like talking most of the time.

Mostly, he spent his time reading over and over Lady Capulet's diary. So far he'd learned nothing useful.

He wondered if he should explain the situation to his friends, but was reluctant to do so. For some reason, he felt that he should keep the Nightingale family's story a secret. He felt he would invade their privacy if he told anyone. And also, he felt that it was his burden to carry, that it was his duty to save Chiara and nobody else's.

Before he realized it, October had died away, and November had started, carrying its frigid wind, and the first snowfall and yet another damned full moon.

"You alright, Remus?" Even if he was still annoyed at him, as clearly stated by the fact that he'd called him by his name instead of his nickname, Sirius felt obliged to ask. Full moons were always delicate periods for Remus, especially when he was already having a hard time. And this month was clearly the case.

"Yeah, fine," Remus answered, shrugging, without lifting his glare from the diary.

In all honesty, he was feeling awful... But his friends didn't need to know that. And anyway, he had no time worrying over the full moon or giving heed to Sirius. He was re-reading once again Lady Capulet's recount of Romeo and Juliet's deaths, in the hope of finding some useful information that he'd missed the last... twenty times? Or thirty?

"You sure, Rem? You look pale."

Remus shut the booklet closed and gave Peter a deathful stare. "And whenever haven't I looked pale on a full moon?"

"Well, paler than usual," James intervened in Peter's aid.

"Alright! I'm feeling like shit! You happy, now?!" He got up and left the Great Hall without another word. Sirius growled angrily.

"Let him be, Pads. It's that time of the month..."

"He's still the world's biggest jerk!" Sirius retorted, crossing his arms and pouting like a stubborn little child.

"Chiara's gone missing for a month by now, and tonight he has a furry little problem. Wouldn't you be upset?"

"Upset, sure! A total ass to the people who care for me, no! And he didn't look that upset, either. He's always there with his nose tucked into that stupid little book of his... I wonder what's so interesting in it..."

"Have you ever asked?"

"I tried to snatch it from him a couple of times, but he always managed to stay out of reach."

James sighed and rolled his eyes. Sirius should've really learned to act according to his age. "I asked if you had asked, not if you had been the usual immature, overbearing git you are."

"Look who's talking..."

"Guys, please. Stop it. It's already bad enough that Remus is being so unsufferable."

"Did I ask for your opinion, Wormy?"

"Sirius! Don't take it over Peter!"

Sirius turned to James enraged, then realized how childish and silly he was being. "Yes, you're right... Sorry Prongs, Wormtail."

"It's fine, Padfoot. Now, any suggestions for our long, furry night?" James asked, a mischievous grin spreading on his lips.

*

Remus didn't show up for lessons and that wasn't a good sign. Sirius guessed he was already in the Hospital Wing, but that wasn't like him. He usually avoided to go there earlier than a couple of hours before the moon raised, unless he was feeling truly, truly bad. And he didn't seem to feel _that_ bad that morning... Well, a bit worse that usual, but not by much...

No, he was taking the excuse to avoid them. And Sirius didn't like it. Especially since the memory of last full moon was still impressed in his mind all too well. If Remus had been so violent then, what would happen tonight?

At half past six James disappeared up the stairs to go grab the Map and the Cloak. Sirius was drawing sketches over a spared sheet of parchment, something he used to do at times when he was nervous to relieve his tension. Peter, as usual totally oblivious, was practicing some charm Sirius wasn't sure which effect it was supposed to have; it hadn't had any so far. Eventually, James rejoined them, and they left the Common Room together.

It wasn't until they reached the grounds that Sirius voiced his worries. "Are you sure it is a good idea?"

"What are you talking about?" James asked, genuinely confused.

Sirius sighed. "Going to the Shack tonight... Remus must've been in a really fool mood today..."

"Honestly, Padfoot! I thought the two of you had got over whatever issue you had unsolved. And even if you didn't... I can't believe you're really suggesting to abandon him!" James' tone made Sirius flinch. Last time he'd used that tone with him, it had been after Snape's incident.

"That's not what I meant, Prongs..." he started again, cautiously. "I love Moony, you know that! And I want to be by his side, I truly do, but... Remember last full moon? We barely made it out all in one piece, and he was just vaguely upset over his feelings for Chiara... As much as I love Remus, I don't want to die at the age of sixteen, torn to pieces, only because he has girls issues!"

"He doesn't have _girls issues_!"

"Call it whatever you want. I still care for my skin, and I'm being serious here... In all respects," he added hastily, before James could point out that he was always _Sirius_.

"Well, I'm going down there to ease a bit my friend's worst time of life. You're free to go back to the castle where you'll be safe, if that's what you want."

_Oh, no, Jamie! There's no way you'll go down there alone! If you're going into this suicide mission, then I'll come with you!_ "Alright," he said, rolling his eyes. "Let's go. But if he'll kill us, I swear to Merlin that I'll make your existence in the afterlife a hell!"

"Deal," James said, with an amused smirk. How could he never take anything seriously?

*

Peter, as always, was the first to transform. As a little rat, he made his way through the wriggling branches of the Willow and pressed the knot which would freeze the tree. James and Sirius joined him inside the tunnel, and then transformed as well.

They heard the howl before they reached the Shack. Padfoot's ears pricked up with worry. That sound always froze his blood in his veins, and tonight it seemed more painful and menacing than usual. It reminded him of the very first time they had joined Moony during a full moon, that had been one of the scariest moments in his life. He'd never heard Moony howl like that since, until tonight.

Prongs, noticing that his friend had stopped, turned to look at him with an expectant stare in his big hazel eyes, tapping his hoof in an annoyed gesture on the ground. Padfoot let out a little, pleading yelp, as if to say "Please, can we go back now?" Prongs waved his antlers and turned his back on him, trotting forward. Padfoot had no choice but follow.

By the time they reached the upper floor of the Shack, Moony was already bleeding copiously. Wormtail, sensing the danger, let out an acute squeak and slipped under the bed. Padfoot barked quietly, to get Moony's attention, but he immediatly regretted it.

Moony's head snapped in his direction, and he howled again, in an anything-but-friendly fashion. Padfoot took a step back, his eyes wide in fear. Moony gnashed his fangs and ran forward, then lifted his paw and scratched Padfoot's muzzle, luckily missing his eye of merely an inch.

Padfoot snarled in turn, but mainly he was terrified; he knew he couldn't compete with Moony. His worst fears were going to come true, he was going to be torn to pieces by his own brother...

That was when Prongs intervened. He shoved away Moony with his antlers and managed to make him retreat a little from Padfoot. That was, until Moony managed to circumvent him and bit him hard on his back. Padfoot then attacked Moony from behind, driving him away from Prongs, but Moony simply pushed him aside with his front paw, making him collide against the wall. Padfoot yelped softly in pain, and that was when Remus managed to regain some little control over the monster. He looked at Prongs and howled again, this time not in a menacing way, but more of a warning one. His glance was clearly stating "Go away."

Prongs didn't want to leave, but he understood that he had no other option. So he retreated to the door, giving Moony a sort of apologetic look. Moony howled again and Prongs quickened his retreat, finally leaving the Shack and getting to the tunnel again. Padfoot and Wormtail were already there, waiting impatiently for him.

Once they were out on the grounds again, they turned back to their human forms and inspected their wounds. Both Sirius and James were in a horrible shape. Fortunately, they had a large experience with healing spells because otherwise they would've either died of blood loss or be forced to go to the Hospital Wing and then be killed by Madam Pomfrey for giving her such a scare. Or if they survived her, being asked tons of questions by Dumbledore and McGonagall and then be killed by the two of them just the same.

"Forgive me, Pads," James said suddenly, while healing a nasty cut on his left forearm.

"What for?" Sirius asked, confused.

"For not having listened to you... You were right... He could've killed us..."

"Well, we're alright, aren't we?" Sirius said, shrugging. An _I-told-you-so_ didn't seem fair at the moment.

"Yes, we are... But only for mere luck... And because Remus is, despite everything, the most self-controlled guy of the universe."

"Is he? Have you given a look to yourself recently?"

"You know what I mean, Sirius."

Yes, Sirius did. The way Remus had retreated when he'd realized in how much pain he was... He doubted anyone else in his conditions would've managed it... "Let's go to bed," he said, cutting out any other talk.

There was no need to discuss the matter further. Better save words for tomorrow, when they would endure Remus' apologies for hours... Right now, all Sirius desired was a long, restful, possibly dreamless sleep.


	9. Feathers and moonlight

The sun was sinking down the horizon, tinging the sky of orange, and then purple, and finally dark blue. The little bird spread her wings and left her spot among the Forbidden Forest's tree branches, landing on the ground in her preferred clearing just a few meters away from Hagrid's hut and the school grounds.

She'd learned from experience not to stay on the branches when the night arrived. She'd fell too many times in the last month, and it wasn't an enjoyable experience. It usually ended with her feeling dizzy and sore and hurting all over.

The rays of moonlight hit her suddenly, and she started to change. It didn't feel so awkward anymore, after an entire month of that routine...

In the exact moment the silvery gleam of the moon lightened her plumes, her wings began to stretch, all her body began to grow, her legs took their human shape, her beak disappeared giving place to her aquiline nose and soft, thin lips. In a few moments, she was back to her usual, or maybe not so usual anymore, self.

Chiara needed a few more seconds to completely adjust to her refound human form. For the first time since that absurd situation started, she was feeling truly and completely herself. It had been a little better night after night, as the moon slowly reached the circular perfection it was showing tonight. She didn't understand why, but she existed with the moon. She _was_ the moon. If the moon had been a woman, Chiara was pretty sure she would've looked like her.

Every morning, exactly at sunrise, since that day when she woke up in the Hospital Wing with no clue about what had happened, she turned into a lark; and every night, as soon as the moon was out and shining in the sky, she turned back into the girl she was supposed to be.

Only, it was never like she was there for real... She would be ethereal, effimeral, inconsistent, like a ghost. Yes, she was exactly like the moon, _the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb_.

Tonight, it was different. Tonight she was... well... full. It didn't make any sense. Was she going to slowly fade starting from tomorrow? Was she going to simply disappear on new moon's night, and then slowly coming back into existence till she would shine in all her gleaming, pale beauty once the lunar cicle was closed once again? How long would she go on like that? Whatever happened to her? How was she going to settle things back to normal? Because there was no if in there, she would manage it, she wouldn't surrender to a life of lunar phases! She was a Gryffindor, and Gryffindors fought to the end!

Merlin, it had already been a month... Everyone would be worriedly sick for her... The teachers, her parents, her friends... Mary, and Alice... And Lily, her sweet Lily... Even Severus...

And Remus. Above all, Remus!

He was the one she missed the most. He was the one that mostly filled her thoughts.

The last thing she could remember before this insane mess was Remus' face growing closer to give her the long coveted kiss. And the first thing she could remember after, was his sleeping figure, sat on a chair next to the bed she guessed she'd been lying into, his head resting on his arms posed crossed on that same bed. She'd tried to call out his name, and instead she'd let out a twit. That was when she'd realized she was a little creature covered in feathers and she'd flown out of the open window and up into the turquoise morning sky.

Now she wondered if it shouldn't have been better to stay where she was. Remus, or Dumbledore, or someone might've figured out who she was, and maybe found a solution... At least, she wouldn't have been totally on her own...

All those depressing thoughts were crossing her mind, when she heard voices from the edge of the forest. Curious, she moved towards the school grounds, just in time to see James, Sirius and Peter running away from the Whomping Willow, carrying a good amount of horrible injuries.

The fools must've tried to approach the tree and being beaten hard by it. She'd believed no one would be stupid enough to go near the Willow again, not after what happened to poor Davey Gudgeon in their second year... But those were the Marauders, so they were more than likely to do something that inane, even if Chiara couldn't truly guess a reason for it. As much as the Marauders were crazy, they were not totally stupid. There must've been a reason behind that suicide attempt.

She didn't truly care, though. All that mattered was that finally she could let someone know where she was and what had happened. She left her hidden spot behind the trees and started moving in the direction where the boys had been just an instant before. Only, they weren't there anymore. It seemed like they'd simply disappeared into thin air. How was that even possible?

Wondering if she hadn't just being hallucinating, she turned back to her beloved clearing. There she lied down at the trees' shadow and closed her eyes, letting the whistle of the soft breeze through the branches lull her into dreamland.

Tomorrow would be another long day of flying and singing and hunting food (she repressed a shiver of disgust at the thought of her recent diet...) and collecting twigs to build herself a home.

Tonight she would sleep all her human worries away, under the starry sky and the full moon's misterious smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _The inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb_ [Romeo and Juliet – Act II – Scene II].


	10. Show must go on

Sirius was sure that they wouldn't be immediately allowed to see Remus that morning. He was also sure that in the instant they would be at his bedside, Remus would start to apologize. Once again, his predictions were coming true... That old hag of Pythia Ashcroft, the Divination Professor, would be proud of him. Maybe it had been a mistake to drop the subject, after all...

Anyway, James, Sirius and Peter ran to the Hospital Wing first thing in the morning; they were stopped before entering by an irritated Madam Pomfrey.

She eyed them over suspiciously, her glare lingering a little too long on the not yet fully faded scars on their arms and faces. Fortunately, she seemed to decide that she didn't really want to know how they'd earned themselves the wounds.

"You can't see him," she said sternly, before they could even ask.

"But, Poppy..." James started, giving her his best doe-eyes. She gave him a murderous glare (she found totally unrespectful from students to address her by first name) and Sirius rolled his eyes. How had James that ability of doing exactly what a person would find more unnerving when he wanted to impress them, was behond him.

"He's not up to see anyone right now! He had a tough night, and I'm not letting the three of you stress him further!"

"We know he had a tough night..." Sirius intervened. "That's exactly the reason we're here, just like every month."

"But today is not just like every month, Mr Black. I need him to rest, and you need to go to lesson."

"But..."

"No complains! Return in a couple of hours and maybe, and I'll say it again, _maybe_ , I'll let you in."

There was no use in insisting. They headed to the Great Hall for breakfast and then to classes, like good children. Then, once the two hours had passed, they flung themselves to the Hospital Wing once again.

Madam Pomfrey saw them burst in and sighed; she should've expected they would take her into word. "He's still not feeling well," she protested weakly. She knew she had no hope of taking them away from her patient any longer.

"You said a couple of hours, and it's been exactly two hours, now. Two hours, three minutes and twentyfive seconds, actually," Sirius pointed out. She rolled her eyes.

"Alright. But keep it quiet. Any noise nuisance, and..."

"Yeah, yeah! Sure, Poppy! Don't worry, we'll be good!" James said.

Before she could rebate, the three boys were already behind the curtains that covered Remus' bed.

He truly looked horrible... The most part of his skin was covered in bandages, and he had a greenish complexion that made Sirius vaguely queasy. He looked at his friends and the nasty scratches on their faces, and immediately his eyes filled with worry and remorse. "Guys, I..."

"Don't," Sirius interrupted him abruptly. "Don't you dare say the word _sorry_!"

"But Padfoot, I _am_ sorry! I could've killed..."

"But you didn't, so let's just drop it, okay?"

"Well, I'm still sorry! So, so, so sorry! And not only about last night! I'm sorry about everything! I've been so horrible to you in the last month... And I know you didn't deserve it... I'm just so sorry..."

"What's going on, Moony? Apart Chiara missing, I mean... I know there's something else!"

Remus didn't want to address the topic now, but he knew that he would have to sooner or later, and that was as good of a moment as any. "It was my fault," he said in a small voice.

"What was?" James asked, concerned.

"Chiara! She... I... That evening, after you left... We kissed..."

"And is this a bad thing?" Sirius asked, puzzled.

"Worse than you can imagine, Pads..." Remus didn't seem to have anything else to add, but the answer wasn't exactly satisfying Sirius. He was still pissed at him for that punch... And he truly couldn't see how a good snog could be a bad thing...

"Why?" he asked, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Because... Because Chiara is a descendant of Romeo and Juliet." Sirius had always questioned Remus' sanity, but that made it. He was totally mental.

"Erm... What?" James said, clearly reaching the same conclusion Sirius did.

"Romeo and Juliet as in the Muggle play's Romeo and Juliet?" Peter asked, perplexed. He hadn't said a word till then. Sirius had nearly forgotten he was there at all.

Remus didn't answer Peter's question, instead gestured towards his bedside table, where the little book that had driven Sirius mad with curiosity laid. "It's all in there."

Sirius took the booklet and looked at the front page, frowning. "Which kind of language is this?!?"

"Sixteen century's Italian, or Venetian dialect, more likely... I think you could translate the first few lines more or less like _These are the memorials of Giovanna Antonia Capuleti, and the recount of the tragic fate of her only daughter Giulietta, led to her doom by her love against nature for..._ "

"You know it by heart?! How did you even understood what's written in here?!"

"It was difficult in the beginning, but after the first four or five times I read it, I got kind of accustomed to the language..."

"Four or five times? How many times have you read this, exactly?"

"Dunno... Lost count... Around forty, maybe?" Sirius' mouth dropped and remained open in awe. James and Peter exchanged a look of total astonishment.

"Will you stop acting like you think I'm mental?"

"Moony... You're mental!"

"I'm not! You're missing the point!" Remus screamed, frustrated. He tried to straighten in his bed, but everything hurt too much. He plunged back onto the mattress, moaning out of pain.

"Stay still. If Madam Pomfrey was to think we're upsetting you, then you truly would have our lives on your conscience."

Remus threw Sirius a murderous glare. He didn't seem to notice. "Anyway, Rem... If we're missing the point, maybe it is because you haven't made yourself clear enough..."

Obviously, he was right. Remus was more than aware of having made no sense at all so far... But it wasn't his fault, if everything was so absurd and confusing. "To make it short... Romeo and Juliet existed for real. He was a werewolf, and Juliet's parents weren't exactly thrilled by the news. They were killed by Juliet's family and her mother decided to raise their daughter, but she casted a curse over her offspring, which would strike any woman of the Capulet's family who would fall in love with... someone with a furry little problem. And that's why I should've never kissed her."

"You mean Chiara..."

"She fainted in the exact moment my lips touched hers. I took her here, and Madam Pomfrey tried everything, and Dumbledore too, but she didn't wake. I spent the night by her bedside, and when I woke up the following morning, her bed was empty. Then her parents arrived, and Mrs. Nightingale told me the entire story... And she gave me that... And made me swear to try anything to save Chiara. Obviously, I would've done it anyway."

"Why didn't you tell any of this before?" James asked, a mix of disbelief and disappointment in his voice. So typical of him, feeling betrayed whenever one of the other Marauders kept anything from him.

"I don't really know..." Remus started slowly and nearly apologetically. "At first, I was angry at you, for having forced me to _sort things out_ with her, which was how we got into this mess. Then... I suppose I just thought that you needn't to be bothered by this, that it was something I should've worked out on my own..."

This time, it was Sirius who turned in all-angry-mode. "When will you thrust in your stupid head that we are your friends, and that we love you, and that we're glad to help you, and that you deserve it?!?"

Remus smiled sheepishly. "Never?"

"Did you work it out?"

Peter, again. He was like that. Just staying silent and listening, and then at random moments, when nobody expected him to, coming up with some question that would just turn the conversation into another direction entirely. Sometimes it was unnerving, but some other times his interjections were exactly what his friends needed to see things from a new perspective, or simply to avoid killing each other... That was one of those times.

"Nope." Remus answered, shaking his head.

"Well, maybe the answer is not in here, then." Sirius put away the stupid diary hastily, like it had offended him somehow.

"Maybe," Remus conceded. "But I have nothing else to go by."

"What about the play?" James asked, excitedly, like he had just discovered the Fountain of Fair Fortune, or something.

"It doesn't even tell what really happened. How could there be clues in there?" James shrugged. It had sounded a good idea to him...

Then Madam Pomfrey arrived, claiming that they'd already been in there for more than a hour and that her patient needed to rest and that they had to get out immediately.

*

A week later, more or less, during Muggle Studies' class, McLean announced that the rehearsals were going to restart.

"But, Professor!" Remus complained, unable to restrain himself. "We can't simply pretend nothing happened! Chiara's still missing, and she's supposed to interpret Juliet..."

"And this is exactly why we chose a replacement when we assigned the parts. You'll act with Miss Evans, until Miss Nightingale will come back again."

"You have no respect! I'm not going to..."

"Show must go on, Mr. Lupin. This is my last word on the matter. If you don't feel like playing Romeo anymore, then renounce and Mr Potter will take your place. And I won't tolerate to be addressed like that anymore. So sit down and watch your mouth, if you don't want to earn yourself a detention."

Remus sat down and didn't utter a word more, but that didn't prevent him from glaring hatefully at his teacher for the whole hour.

*

Wednesday afternoon, once lessons ended, all the participants in the show gathered in the Great Hall. Lily was pacing up and down nervously, her dark red hair hanging loosely on her back, repeating her lines under her breath, under James' amused stare.

"Relax, Lils. You're going to be great," he said her smiling.

She shot him a deathly stare. Recently, things had changed between the two of them. They'd been spending a lot of time together in the last few weeks, but she was still uncertain about their relationship, and he could still send her out the hinges. Old habits were hard to die...

"I'm not. And, anyway, this isn't right. Chiara should be the one on the stage, not me. What am I doing here?"

"A month ago you wished for her to get sick."

"I was kidding, Potter! How can you be that insensitive?"

"Oh, Lils... Come on... I miss her too... But there's nothing that we can do for her, is there? We can't simply stop living."

James' words sounded somewhat cruel in Lily's ears, yet they were so undeniably true... She sighed and nodded. "You're right, I suppose... I'm just so nervous."

He hugged her tightly, and she tried to take comfort from his arms wrapped around her, even if it wasn't much. She felt his lips caressing softly the top of her head, and then his voice whispering in her ear. "Everything will be alright, I promise. We'll get Chiara back. We'll work it out. I'm here for you, and I'll always be."

No one had ever talked to her that way. How could she have let herself miss all that for so long? How could she have not seen before how wonderful a person James was? "Thank you," she whispered back quietly.

*

" _If I profane with my... With my..._ " Remus coughed, then tried again. " _If I profane with my unworthiest hand..._ "

No. It was useless. Words wouldn't come. That spark, that magical entente, wouldn't come. He looked into Lily's beautiful emerald eyes, and all he could think of was how much he missed Chiara's light brown ones. "I'm sorry, Lily... I can't..." he said, then ran away from the stage and the Hall.

Professor McLean seemed at a loss for words for a moment, then regained her composure. "Very well. Mr Potter, I suppose you'll have to pick up on the role. Let's replay the scene from the beginning, now, shall we? Everyone to their spots."

James stayed where he was for a little bit, his glance shifting uncertainly from Lily to the entrance of the Hall from where Remus had just disappeared and back again. She understood and gave him a little smile and a nod, silently communicating him that she wouldn't mind if he chose his friend in that frangent. He gave her a grateful smile in return, then addressed McLean. "Forgive me, Professor, but I don't think so... I believe I'm needed more elsewhere."

And he ran too out of the Great Hall, behind Remus. He didn't need to go too far to find him. He was sitting on the last step of the stairs right in front of the Hall.

"Thought they needed a Romeo," Remus said, looking at James with a mix of gratitude and exasperation.

"Thought you needed a friend," he countered. "Besides, you are the only one who can really fit in the character... You have a furry little problem."

Remus sighed and hugged his legs. James sat beside him and posed a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine. You know that, don't you?"

Remus didn't know of anything being fine, but he nodded nonetheless. James smirked. "Here's the spirit! A true Marauder never despairs!"

"Whatever would I've done without you, Prongsie..." Remus commented sarcastically.

"Nothing, that's what!" he answered, with that same mix of pride and cheeriness.

Remus laughed. It was uncertain, and not at all carefree, but it was still the first time he managed to laugh in ages.

*

Days passed and nothing changed. Remus was glad to have confided everything to the other Marauders. Now all four of them would spend the most of their free time trying to figure out what could've happened to Chiara or how to break the curse. They weren't coming up with anything, but the fact itself that others were trying to solve the mistery with him lifted Remus' hopes a little. Four heads were surely better than one.

All of them plus Lily had decided to go on strike over the play, which left McLean short of three foundamental characters. Finally, the Professor had resigned to the fact that the show couldn't go on after all, and she'd suspended all the rehearsals in the wait of Miss Nightingale's return. She didn't like it, though, and reminded Remus constantly by harassing him in any possible way during classes.

Slowly, also November was coming to an end, which meant the full moon was approaching once again. Remus was growing irritable and dull with the day and he would snap at his friends for every little thing. Then he would feel guilty and try to apologize, but they would cut him off saying it didn't matter and usually that would lead to more snapping.

The afternoon of the day before the full moon, the four of them were sitting together on their preferred armchairs in the Common Room, which was gladly deserted apart for them. James was reading over Shakespeare's play again, still convinced the answer must've been there somewhere. Sirius was drawing geometrical patterns on a spare sheet of parchment. Peter was playing a solitary with his deck of Exploding Snap's cards. It felt so awkward... for once they had some time to spend among each other, without anyone in the way, and they were all acting like four perfect strangers who happened to be in the same room perchance. Remus couldn't remember something like that happening before.

"You shouldn't come tomorrow," he said suddenly, driving the other's attention to himself.

"What?" James asked, absent-mindedly. He was probably too focused on his reading to really listen to anything.

"I said, you shouldn't come tomorrow," Remus repeated, annoyed.

This time, James understood. "Of course we're coming tomorrow! Why in Merlin's name would you say we shouldn't?"

"Because last full moon I nearly killed you. I won't permit you to take such risks for me."

"Maybe you forgot a little detail here, Moony," Sirius intervened, his quill still wavering casually over the parchment. "It's our choice to come or not. You can't stop us. You have no say in it."

Remus was going to rebate when they heard a patter against the window's glass.

"What's that?" James asked, turning to the source of the sound.

"It's a bird," Sirius answered, going to open the window. "Hey, it's carrying a letter!" he added, surprised.

The bird flew inside the Common Room and landed on Remus' lap. He eyed it suspiciously, then tentatively reached out to take the letter. The bird simply stayed there, impassive, staring at him right into the eyes.

"That's not an owl!" Peter exclaimed.

"Really, Wormtail. Aren't you observant," Sirius commented sarcastically.

"It's definitely not an owl," Remus confirmed. "This is a lark."

_It was the lark, the herald of the morn._ Chiara's voice said in some angle of his brain.

"A lark," he repeated. "This must be a joke... A really sick joke."

He started opening the letter and the bird took off out the window and towards the Forbidden Forest. A rapid glance to the handwriting told Remus whom the letter was from.

"Chiara wrote this!" he exclaimed, not knowing if he should feel relieved or terrified.

"What?!?" James exclaimed.

"Well, don't keep us on our toes this way! Read it!" Sirius joined in.

_Remus,_   
_I know I've been gone for a while and you must've been worriedly sick for me..._   
_I apologize for that, but I really didn't know how to contact you._   
_We need to talk. Meet me tomorrow, after sunset, behind Hagrid's hut._   
_I'll be waiting, don't let me down. Better if you come alone._

"Tomorrow after sunset? I can't meet anyone tomorrow after sunset! Why tomorrow? Why not today? Why not right now?"

"Rem, calm down..." He took a deep breath, actually calming down a little. Then his mind started racing, trying to find a solution. He couldn't meet her, that much was sure. But he couldn't _let her down_ , either. He had to keep the promise he'd made to Anna Nightingale and himself two months before. He had to save Chiara. He couldn't just let slip the first concrete occasion of discovering something useful...

He looked at his friends and the answer came, clear as sunlight. She couldn't meet _him_ , but she _could_ meet them! "One of you has to go."

"One of us? Tomorrow, after sunset, behind Hagrid's hut?" Remus just nodded.

"This means we won't be down at the Shack with you..."

"You shouldn't have in any case... That's what I've been trying to tell you earlier..."

"She said she wanted to meet _you_! Better alone! She won't be pleased to meet the three of us instead..."

"I don't care if she would be pleased or not! I can't go to her tomorrow, then someone has to go in my place! Tell her the truth, if you feel like that would make it simpler."

"Telling her the truth? You really want us to tell her about your furry little problem?"

"She'll have to find out eventually... After all, that's what brought the curse, isn't it? She'll need to know sooner or later. Then, seeing the circumstances, rather let it be sooner." It was all strict logic. None of the four really liked the plan, but there weren't any alternatives. Tomorrow, while Remus endured the full moon alone, James, Sirius and Peter would meet with Chiara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _If I profane with my unworthiest hand..._ [Romeo and Juliet – Act I Scene V]  
>  _It was the lark, the herald of the morn._ [Romeo and Juliet – Act III – Scene V]


	11. The Lark and the Nightingale

"I don't like this," Sirius declared suddently in the middle of breakfast.

"We've already discussed this over and over, Padfoot. It's the only way."

"But you can't go through it alone... You'll torn yourself to pieces! We could always separate, you know? James could go to see Chiara and I could come with you."

"No. It's already risky enough with you both present. It would end badly if it was just one of you."

Sirius knew Remus was right. And he felt kind of a hypocrite, insisting so much when last month he'd been the one who didn't want to go. That was what James must've been thinking too, judging from the side-glances he kept throwing him.

"You both... Just one... Who am I? The next door neighbour?" Peter asked, sulking.

"No offence, Wormy... But you aren't that much of a help when it comes to hold him back..."

"No, obviously not! I'm not that much of a help in anything, am I? Did it cross your brilliant minds that I could've gone to see Chiara while the two of you went to the Shack to stay with Moony? No, it didn't. Because you think I'm useless!" He got up and left the three of them at the table speechless.

"What's wrong with him?" Sirius asked, stunned. James and Remus just shrugged in response.

*

It was around four p.m. when Remus prepared to go to the Hospital Wing.

"Are you sure, Remus? One hundred percent sure?" Sirius asked one last time.

Remus wasn't. The most selfish part of him was tempted to ask them to change the plan and join him for the night, but he knew he couldn't risk their lives, and Chiara's too, so he kept the thought to himself. He nodded and left his friends, heading to the Hospital Wing alone.

Later that evening, James and Sirius left the castle and moved towards the forest, hidden under the Invisibility Cloak. Peter hadn't come with them. In all honesty, they had no idea where he had disappeared. They imagined he was still pissed at them, even if they couldn't guess the reason. They hadn't given it much thought, anyway. He surely would've come around again the following day.

They reached the edge of the forest, right behing Hagrid's hut, like Chiara's note indicated. They put out the Cloak and waited for a bit.

The sun hadn't set yet.

"Merlin, it's freezing!" Sirius complained.

James had to agree, but didn't say so. Complaining about the coldness wouldn't make it warm. And it was just too amusing to pretend to be fine and tease Sirius about acting like a child. "Really, Padfoot. It's not that bad... You should..."

"You're freezing just as much as I am! You're saying that just to annoy me. I know you, Prongs!"

A bird landed next to them, stopping their bickering.

"Isn't it the lark from yesterday?" James asked, pointing.

"It might..." Sirius agreed, although he couldn't be sure. The Forest must've been full of birds, after all. Who could say that was exactly the same bird?

"Do you think it has some other message? Or that it will lead us to Chiara?"

"Dunno... It seems like it's just staying there..."

*

Chiara landed to the meeting point, thinking she would find Remus waiting for her there. Instead, when she arrived, she found herself face to face (well, more or less...) with James and Sirius.

She was livid. She'd asked _him_ to come, alone. She needed him. She'd deluded herself into believing that he loved her, instead he apparently didn't care for her enough to even meet her, after all that time... He'd sent his friends... Who could do something like that? Who could be that coward?!

She was nearly tempted to fly away, but it would be stupid. Those two weren't who she wanted to see, but they could help nonetheless. And anyway, the moon would be out in the sky soon. If she flew away now, all she would achieve would be another fall... She remained where she was and waited.

"She's not coming," Sirius told James, shivering. "Let's go back to the castle, and maybe we could make a trip to the kitchens and have the house-elves bring us some hot chocolate..."

James rolled his eyes at his friend, and right then the light of the moon hit the bird, and it started to grow bigger and bigger under their astounded glares.

"Ch-Chiara?" James asked, tentatively.

"Why didn't Remus come?!?" she screamed, angrily.

But her question was totally ignored by the two boys. Before she knew it, James was hugging her, so tightly she could hardly breath. "Oh, Chiara! Thank goodness you're ok! We were so worried about you..."

"Prongs. Let her breath. She's turning blue..."

Thankfully, James would listen to Sirius, if not to anyone else. He let Chiara go and smiled at her sheepishly. "Sure... Sorry..."

"Hope you don't mind me asking, but... Are you a bird?" Sirius asked, puzzled.

"I'm not a bird, Black. But yeah, I've been turning into one every day at dawn in the last two months. Lark at day, and" she grimaced. "Nightingale at night... Sounds like a sick joke, doesn't it?"

"Lark at day and Nightingale..." James repeated slowly. "Yes, of course! I knew I was right!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sirius demanded, his eyebrows raised.

"The play! All the answers are in the play! Lark at day, Nightingale at night, Sirius! If the symptoms are in there, then there must be the cure too!"

"Symptoms? Cure? She's not ill, Jamie. She's under a curse."

"Well, so is Remus, and we call his symptoms."

"It's not the same thing."

"Not so different, either. She clearly has a featherly little problem."

"I have what?" Chiara asked, amazed.

Sirius rolled his eyes, then noticed that James had taken out Romeo and Juliet's script and a quill and was scribbling furiously on it. "What the hell are you doing, now?"

"Taking notes."

Sirius rolled his eyes again, and looked over James' shoulder. In the margins, and in a totally messy handwriting, he'd traced some sort of flowchart, with circles, and arrows, and random words such as _night_ , _lark_ , _featherly little problem_ , _play_ and _cure_. Sirius was starting to seriously fear for his sanity. And for his own, too, cause recently his friends seemed to have been plotting against it...

"You still haven't answered my question. Why isn't Remus here?" Chiara asked, trying to put the conversation back to a plan she could follow.

"Why did you ask for him to join you right on a full moon night?" James countered, something which vaguely resembled an accuse transpiring in his voice.

She was caught off guard by the question. Why would it matter to them that it was the full moon? How did they even notice?

"Because that's the only time of the month in which I'm truly and fully myself..." she answered, clearly confused.

Sirius and James exchanged a look, then James turned to his febrile writing.

"It makes sense..." Sirius said, like he was talking more to himself. "If she wanted to take the two of them apart, she would let her be herself exactly when he wasn't..."

"Who wants to take who apart? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your grand-grand-grandmother or whatever, _Giovanna Capuleti_."

They explained her all the story, Romeo's lycanthropy, his and Juliet's deaths, the curse.

"But then... That would mean that Remus..."

"Is a werewolf, yeah," Sirius finished for her. "Which is why he sent us to talk to you instead of coming himself."

"It's just so absurd!"

"Welcome to the club."

She sighed and lifted her glare towards the perfect circle of the moon, the very source of her existence, and the doom of her love's life.

" _Non è giusto!_ " [It's not fair!] she cried, tears forming in her eyes.

"Listen, Chiara. There must be a solution, and we're going to find it. Everything will be back to normal, Marauder's word," Sirius told her solemnly.

She didn't believe him, but nodded just the same. All she wanted right in that moment was to see Remus' smile, to feel his arms around her, to hear his voice telling her those same soothing words. She gave the moon, _the inconstant moon_ , another hateful stare, then started to cry into Sirius' chest, wetting his coat with her tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _the inconstant moon_ [Romeo and Juliet – Act II – Scene II]


	12. Telling Lily

Remus remained unconscious the whole day after the full moon. It was with death in her heart that Madam Pomfrey forbid his three best friends to see him at all. She wasn't used anymore to have him in such a bad shape. Ever since sometime near the end of his fourth year, he'd always beared full moons quite well. But the last two months... She was particularly affectionate to the young werewolf, having taken constant care of him since he was eleven. He was practically a son to her, and she hated to see him in that state.

She wasn't the only one. Chiara spent the morning perched on one of the Hospital Wing's windowsills, observing Remus with concern. How couldn't she have ever guessed? The clues were all there, right under her beak... _nose_. The way he disappeared every single month, with excuses that got always more improbable. All those scars he'd always justified saying that he'd fallen from the stairs or some other rubbish like that. She should've known...

It didn't matter, anyway. What mattered was that Remus was there, unconscious, horribly injured, and she couldn't do anything to help. Eventually, she found she couldn't stay there one instant more. She spread her wings and flew away.

She decided to flew up to the Gryffindor Tower. She missed the Common Room, the warmth of the fireplace, the squashy armchairs. Even more, she missed all the joking and gossiping with Mary and Alice, the late night chats with Lily, Remus' frown of concentration during a game of wizard's chess...

She found the window open (odd with that frigid temperature, but she surely wouldn't question her luck) and flew inside. The Marauders were there, sitting around one of the little round tables. She decided to move to them; she would've chosen those three over hunting worms anytime.

She landed in the middle of the table, which was covered in a messy pile of parchment sheets; the Romeo and Juliet's script where James had _taken notes_ the evening before and that seemed to currently be his only focus.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at Chiara suspiciously. "Nightingale? Is that you?"

"She's a lark, Pads, not a nightingale," James pointed out, without looking at him, pulling out one of the sheets from under Chiara, which made her lose her balance for a moment. She let out a very loud and offended _Tweet!_ that made James chuckled.

"Well, now don't get all chirpy on me, lady. I don't speak larkish," Sirius commented with a pout. Chiara rolled her eyes. Once again, why had she thought it could've been a good idea to join them?

She was ready to spread her wing and leave, but right in that moment a bunch of dark red hair appeared from the passage behind the Fat Lady's portrait. Lily Evans moved towards the boys, gave them a bright smile, then sat on the arm of James' chair and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Chiara stared at the scene wide-eyed. What else had she missed those past two months?

"Hi, love," James greeted her. His timber surprised Chiara, it was suddenly deeper than what she was used to, more adult, and strangely warm at the same time. Was that really the same James Potter?

"Hi," Lily answered cheerfully, then she noticed the sheets James was staring at. "What are you doing? Didn't we decide to undermine the production?"

Undermine the production? Why would they do that? _Tweet?_

"I know we decided McLean was being a bitch for ignoring Chiara's disappearence and decided to refuse to take part in the play anymore..." James said, more to Chiara's benefit. "But this is about something else... You see..."

He stopped, unable to come up with a suitable excuse. For a moment, he thought about telling her the truth, but he wasn't sure Chiara would be okay with it. Not to consider, he wouldn't know how to tell her without mentioning Remus' furry little problem... And he surely wasn't going to reveal her that. It was Remus' secret to tell, if he ever wanted to.

"James is convinced that the key to save Chiara is in the play," Peter concluded for him.

James and Sirius both sent daggers at Peter, while Lily looked simply confused. Chiara honestly couldn't decide if she was annoyed at the guy or not. After all, Lily was her best friend, she had the right to know.

"In the play?" Lily asked, addressing James. "Why would you think that?"

He muttered something she couldn't make out. Chiara chirped again, trying to communicate them _Just tell her_.

Sirius apparently understood. So much for one who _didn't speak larkish_. He caught Chiara's eyes and asked "You sure?"

She tweeted her agreement and he nodded. "Okay, Lily... Can you see that bird?"

"Of course I can see it, Sirius. I'm not blind."

"It isn't a bird."

Lily raised her eyebrows. "What are you talking about? Of course it is a bird."

"She isn't," James intevened. "She's a person."

"Sorry?"

"She's your friend Chiara Nightingale," Sirius declared.

Lily looked at the three boys in turn, expecting them to burst out laughing and tell her it was a joke. But none of them did. "Are you being serious?"

Sirius was starting to reply, a silly smirk opening on his face, but before he could Chiara pecked him on his index finger. She couldn't stand any Sirius-serious pun in that moment, and she was sure from Sirius' expression that it would be coming.

"Ouch! Nightingale! Why did you do it?" he asked, sucking his finger.

"I already told you, Pads. She's no nightingale. She's a lar... Ouch!" Chiara'd just pecked James, too. "Never knew you were so violent!" he complained.

"Really, Nightingale! You should relax! We were just joking!" Sirius joined in.

"Chiara, is that you for real?" Lily asked, addressing the bird. She tweeted in response what definitely sounded like a _yes_.

"But what... How..."

"She was cursed."

"Cursed? Why? By whom? How do you even know..."

"It's a long and complicated story. And it involves other people's secrets. So we can't exactly explain in details. Not right now, at least," Sirius said, slightly apologetic.

"But it has something to do with Romeo and Juliet. And I'm positive the answer is in here." James lifted the pack of sheets he'd been reading over and she nodded, although she was anything but convinced.

"By the way, Prongs. Anything useful in there so far?"

"Nope. All the lark-nightingale thing seems totally useless... I was thinking if maybe the part with the potion could mean something... It seems a lot like the Draught of Living Death..."

"Are you suggesting to give Chiara the Draught of Living Death?"

"No, I doubt it would help anything... Oh, I don't know! It's just so frustrating! How did Rem manage looking into this all alone for a month?"

*

The following morning, when Remus opened his eyes, he found his three best friends sitting all around his bed, with concerned expressions on their faces.

"Wh-what time is it?" he asked fleebly.

"Ah, you're awake! About time, mate!" Sirius said, smiling cheerfully, even if Remus could tell he was upset.

"It's seven thirty in the morning of December 4th. You've been out an entire day, Moony... You gave us a good scare," James answered.

"An entire... Oh, Merlin!"

"It's okay! We took notes!" James added, taking out from his bag some parchments and showing them to Remus.

He smiled. His friends usually didn't take any note in class; they claimed they didn't need them, because they had everything memorized in their heads, yet they would regularly borrow Remus' notes before any exam, more often than not waiting the night right before. The fact that they actually bothered to take notes was their way to show Remus how much they cared. Their friendship meant the world for him and no words would ever suffice to express his gratitude.

"So... How did it go with Chiara?" he asked, suddenly remembering the reason why they hadn't been with him last full moon.

"Oh, well... Do you remember the lark who brought you the message?"

*

It wasn't till lunchtime that Madam Pomfrey agreed, very reluctantly, to let Remus leave.

The young werewolf joined his friends at the Gryffindor table, determined not to miss any more social life for that month, as sick as he might feel. Besides, he was starving... He dig in voraciously, his plate filled with such a large amount of every kind of meat available that even Sirius had to wrinkle his nose.

A few minutes later, Lily joined them and sat next to James. She gave Remus a vaguely disgusted look, but didn't comment on his unusual lack of good table manners.

"Hey, Evans! You here, too?" Sirius said, in a strange suggestive tone, without really looking at her and throwing glances at Remus, instead.

Remus immediately stopped eating, his stomach suddenly closed by nervousness. The boys had told him about their conversation with Lily the previous day, and eventually he'd agreed to tell her about his furry little problem, but he was scared to death by her possible reaction. They weren't exactly friends, but they were in fairly good terms. He really didn't want to scare her away.

"Lily... May I... Do you think we can talk for a minute? Alone?" he asked slowly and titubantly, not quite meeting her eyes.

"Of course," she answered, her tone torn between curiosity and worry.

He led her out of the Great Hall and to an empty classroom nearby. She sat on one of the desks, while he paced up and down nervously, looking at his feet.

"Remus... What's the matter?" she asked, after a while.

"I... I really don't know where to begin..."

"Is this about Chiara? Did anything happen..."

"What? No... It's not about Chiara... Well, it is, partly... But..." He sighed.

"Remus... You're scaring me... What's going on?"

With great effort, he met her emerald eyes. "There's something you need to know. About me. You need to know because that's the only way you'll fully understand what happened to Chiara... I won't blame you, if you'll want to have nothing to do with me after this."

She gave him a suspicious look. What could he have ever done, to think that she would want to stay away from him? Did he hurt Chiara somehow, perhaps? "Just tell me," she said, starting to feel impatient.

"Ok... The fact is that... That I am... I am..." His voice died in his throat, he found he was just unable to continue. Somehow, though, Lily realized what it was all about. She rolled her eyes. Was he really that thick?

"I. Am. A. Werewolf," she said, counting on her fingers. "It's a four words sentence... Shouldn't be too difficult to say..."

He looked at her wide eyed.

"Oh, come on, Remus! Do you really think I wouldn't notice?"

"How do you know?"

"I figured it out... Well, Severus suggested it, to be totally true... But it was quite obvious. You disappearing every single month with the full moon... And coming back with the aspect of someone who'd just been trampled by a troll... Does not take a genius to put the pieces together."

He had no answer to that. He lowered his gaze once again and asked softly "You hate me, don't you?"

"Why would I?"

"Because I'm a monster..."

"You are no monster, Remus. You didn't choose it, it just happened. It's not your fault."

"I'm still a monster."

Part of her really wanted to smack his head, to see if it would put some sense into it, but she decided it better to just drop the subject. "What does it have to do with Chiara?" she asked instead. He explained her all the Capulets thing. She stared at him always more incredulous. "You kissed and she fainted? And then turned into a bird? Just like that?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"But, why?"

"Because her grand-grand-grandmother wouldn't have appreciated our relationship."

"I got that much. I mean, why? Why turn her into a bird? It doesn't make any sense."

"Dunno... James is convinced that Shakespeare's play is a sort of solution in code... That all the lark-nightingale exchange is kind of a prediction of what would happen... And it sort of is, really... I don't really know what to think anymore..."

Remus sighed again and rubbed his temples tiredly. Lily posed a hand on his shoulder, a heartening smile on her face. "We'll figure it out, Remus. We will together. Don't worry. It'll be ok."


	13. Back together

"There's no way we'll all fit under there, you know it, don't you?" Sirius asked, seated cross-legged on his bed, while watching James as he pulled out the Cloak and the Map out of his trunk.

"We won't need it anyway," Remus pointed out, distractedly. "It's ages from curfew."

"But we're heading towards the Forbidden Forest. And it is, well, forbidden," Peter intervened.

"Can't see what are you all so worried about," James said, vaguely annoyed. "Are you scared of being put in detention?"

Remus sighed, turning to look out of the window, at the moon which laked only a thin strip to be full. "Out of all the things that could scare me tonight, a detention is the least I'd think of."

It was barely more than a whisper, but enough for Sirius to hear. It always killed him to see Remus like that. He was torn between the desire of saying something to make him feel better and the need to strangle him for being so utterly stubborn. Sadly, none of the above would have any effect on the self-deprecating git, so Sirius pretended to not have noticed his discomfort at all.

"Are we ready, then?" he asked, just to distract himself from his own thoughts.

James was examining the Map to see if the way was clear. "McGonagall is in her office and so are the other teachers, as far as I can tell... Filch is somewhere on the third floor's corridor, and Mrs. Norris is roaming around the kitchens."

At Mrs. Norris' mention, Peter paled slightly, which made Sirius chuckle. Peter's fear of cats was something that always amused him.

"And Peeves is messing around in the Trophy Room," James concluded. "Shouldn't be that much of a problem, if we came down from the West Wing, it's a bit longer but it's clear."

"What about your girlfriend?" Sirius asked, mockingly.

"She's..."

"Right outside here, and growing impatient!" Lily's voice exclaimed from the boys' dormitory threshold.

"We are ready, then," Remus said, chuckling slightly. At least, he'd stopped mourning...

*

They made their way to the grounds without a hitch. The sky was clear, without a single cloud. The air was frigid, but still. Everything was noiseless, as if someone had cast a Silencing Charm all around. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching of the snow under their shoes.

The five of them ran towards the forest, to the point where James and Sirius had met with Chiara four days previous. Lily was at the same time scared and excited by all the situation. She'd never been that close to the forest before, especially not at that hour, and the atmosphere of that night was a little unsettling. But she couldn't wait to meet her best friend after all that time, and she had to admit that her newly found mischief-making side wasn't that bad. Actually, it was fun.

They reached the edge of the forest, behind Hagrid's hut, and started looking around for a glimpse of Chiara. James called for her, trying not to be too loud as to not be heard by Hagrid himself. No answer came.

"I did tell you we should've at least told her," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

James huffed impatiently, and started to move towards the trees.

"Hey, now wait a minute! I'm not going inside there!" Lily exclaimed, crossing her arms before her chest.

"Do you want to see you friend or do you not?"

"I do. But this is against the rules, and..."

"Oh, please, Prefect Evans!" Sirius teased her. "Don't tell me you're scared. D'you fear we'll meet a werewolf?"

"If I were scared of meeting a werewolf, I wouldn't be here in the first place," she rebated, side-glancing at Remus.

"Ah, ah! Very funny!" Remus said darkly. "And honestly, Prongs... I thought you had a plan!"

"Just trust me, alright? You lot are such a nuisance..." That said, James led the way inside the forest, carrying a reticent Lily by the hand. Sirius, Remus and Peter followed, the first careless, the second scornful, the third tense.

After a little while, they reached an opening and there, seated under a big, ancient fir tree was...

"Chiara!" Lily cried.

She took a step forward, but Remus was faster. He overstepped her, running towards the girl he loved, tears of joy forming in his eyes at her sight.

His arms circled her slim body, while he kept repeating her name, crying and laughing at the same time. Only, he couldn't really hold her. She was there, and yet she wasn't. It was the weirdest thing ever occurred to him. If he had to describe the sensation, he probably would've said that it was like hugging electricity, if that even made sense. He let her go and simply stared at her, transfixed, feeding in her image, trying to compensate with sight all that he couldn't reach by touch.

"You look pale," he finally managed, noticing the nearly sickened whiteness of her face.

"Pale? That's all you have to say after all this time, Rem? That I'm pale?"

Not knowing what to say, he reached out like he wanted to stroke her. She posed her palm on his, like they'd done when reciting the ball scene during their audition. It felt so heartbreaking. Being so close, and at the same time so distant.

"I missed you," he murmured slowly.

"I missed you, too."

"Alright, lovebirds! Now it's my turn!" Lily exclaimed from somewhere behind Remus. She didn't want to break the idyll, but she'd waited too long to see her friend and she had no intention to spend the night assisting to all that mawkishness.

Remus stepped aside to let the two girls greet each other. He could read the disappointment on Lily's face as she tried to hug Chiara and couldn't, just like it had happened to him. "Why can't I touch you?"

Chiara just shrugged, helpless.

"What do you mean, you can't touch her? I could touch her alright the other night," James said, perplexed.

"The other night was the full moon," Chiara pointed out, darkly.

That little sentence was like a stab to the heart for Remus. Was it that _Giovanna Capuleti_ 's plan? Was there any way they could be together for real again, even if only for a moment?

"So, how are you?" Lily asked Chiara, breaking Remus' train of thought.

She shrugged again. "What about you, instead? What's been going on at school? You have to tell me everything."

They chatted for hours, just like they used to do some late evenings in their dorm, like nothing had changed, like nothing had happened. Lily filled her in with all the gossip, while the guys just stayed there and listened, amused by the girlish exchange.

Sometimes, Chiara noticed, James and Lily's hands would graze each other. She would've wanted to make some comment, but she didn't want to embarass her friend in front of the boys, so she took the thought to herself.

There would be time for it. Time for subjecting Lily to the third degree about James. Time for laughing and joking with all her friends. Time for staying with Remus truly and fully, for sharing with him all the kisses and caresses and more that they were forbidden right in that moment.

She'd already known before, but she was one hundred percent sure now. No matter how difficult it would be and how long it would take, she would overcome this stupid curse and live happily ever after with the werewolf she loved.


	14. The cure

All the Gryffindors (and half the rest of the school, too) couldn't help but wonder whatever Lily Evans and the Marauders were up to.

They observed the five friends as they spent every single moment of their spare time sitting around some table in the Library or in the Common Room, reading and handing to each other sheets of parchment and discussing animatedly about Merlin-knew-what.

Surely Potter, Black and Pettigrew couldn't have decided all of a sudden to become model students and just bend on books... And even for the other two, who were a bit of bookworms, all that study (if that was what it was) didn't seem natural...

Other weird thing, more often than not a bird could be seen with them, standing on the table on which they were working, or perched on the arm of one of their chairs.

No one could really guess what was going on, and the five friends put a lot of effort in keeping hidden whatever they were plotting.

Anyway, despite all their efforts, they hadn't made many progresses in their research. Finding the key to save Chiara still seemed an unattainable task.

*

It was only a couple of days before Christmas break that something major happened.

Lily just got out of class after Arithmancy, when she was stopped by a certain greasy-haired Slytherin boy.

"Lily," he said in an emotionless tone, without moving from the wall opposite the classroom door, where he'd been lining, waiting for her.

"Severus!" she exclaimed, startled. "What are you doing here? I thought that after last time..."

"I want to know what you're plotting with Potter."

"Sorry?"

A group of Hufflepuffs passed by, giving the two of them odd glances. Only when the last of them had disappeared behind the corner, Snape crossed the corridor and approached Lily, posing a hand on the other side of the wall so that she couldn't pass. She felt trapped, and didn't like the sensation at all.

"I asked," he repeated slowly, somehow menacingly, "what you're plotting with Potter."

"I don't think this is any of your business. And I'm busy right now, so if you please..."

"Busy? Busy doing what? I've observed you, Lils. I can hardly recognize you anymore... Since when have you become the fifth Marauder?"

"I'm not the fifth Marauder, I'm just..." She wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't sure why she was even bothering to come up with an excuse.

"Maybe you're simply craving for another good snog from your Romeo? Is that it what it is all about?" he asked with malice and disgust in his voice.

Rage filled her at those words. How dared he judge her, after everything that had happened between them? After the way he'd treated her?

"For your information, we're trying to figure out how to help Chiara! And you'd better stay away from me, Snivellus!" she cried and moved away, living him behind, hurt and speechless.

*

Lily kept marching towards the Common Room at record speed, because of her anger, her argument with Severus replaying again and again in her mind. And then it hit her.

"Another snog from your Romeo..."

She stopped in her steps, as the answer they'd been researching for so long presented itself plain as sunlight.

"Another kiss... _Give me my sin again._ "

And she ran all the way up the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower.

*

She found the Marauders at their usual spot next to the fireplace, James bent over the script underlining something, Sirius and Peter building a castle with a deck of Exploding Snap's cards, Remus slouched on his armchair, caressing absent-mindedly Chiara's plumes.

"I figured it out!" she cried, running towards them.

They all turned their attention to her and Peter dropped the card he'd been holding, making all their building explode in a puff of smoke.

"You figured what out?" Sirius asked, coughing.

"Chiara... The curse... I know how it is supposed to be broken!"

"What?" Remus asked, abashed.

A mix of emotions filled him. Stupor, bewilderment, confusion, hopefulness, joy, but also a point of envy. He'd been researching in it for more than three months, and Lily figured it out in a couple of weeks?

 _Tweet?_ Chiara asked, prompting her friend to go on. She was going to be free, finally! She could hardly believe it.

"It is so obvious, so simple... I wonder how we didn't realize it sooner!" Lily said, still amazed herself by her epiphany.

"Do you think you could let us know, too?" James asked, rolling his eyes.

" _Give me my sin again,_ " she quoted, like that explained everything.

"Pardon?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, come on! This all started with a kiss, didn't it? Just like in Romeo and Juliet!"

The Marauders gave her blank stares and she huffed impatiently, rolling her eyes. "The ball scene, do you remember? The first time Romeo and Juliet met. And he kissed her, and that's how their whole story started."

"Alright... So?" James said, trying to follow Lily's reasoning, but failing.

"Do you remember their exchange after that?"

"What? All that pilgrims and saints nonsense?"

"Exactly! He kissed her, and said that he freed himself of his sin that way, but then she rebated that now his sin was resting on her lips, so he kissed her again to take his sin back. Do you understand it, now?"

They all shook their heads, except for Remus, whose eyes widened in understanding. "You mean..."

"Let's say that his sin was his lycanthropy..."

"My sin... My lycanthropy... My curse... I contaminated her with my kiss..."

"And another kiss should fix her back. It is just logic, isn't it? The true love kiss, just like in fairytales!" Lily exclaimed, excited and delightful.

"True love kiss? Fairytales? Which kind of fairytales are you talking about, Evans?"

"Muggle fairytales, Pads. You know, Snow White, the Sleeping Beauty..."

"Who?"

"Never mind," Remus said, dismissively. "Anyway, Lily. This is great and all... But if you're right, than there is just a little complication. She can be kissed only with the full moon."

Lily's face fell. She hadn't considered it.

"Kiss her now," Sirius said, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"She's a bird!" Remus protested.

 _Tweet!_ Chiara chirped, scrolling her feathers in a clear display of offence.

"Don't look at me that way, Chiara. How am I supposed to kiss you?"

"I can show you, if you wish, Moony... Or we can wait till next full moon and I can have a try. She could always fall for my irresistible charm..."

"You..." Remus started, in a disconcerted tone, but never got to finish, cause he was cut out by Chiara's furious chirp. She sent Sirius a murderous glare, and he covered his head with his arms, like he feared an attack. "Don't peck me, Nightingale! I was just kidding!"

_Tweet!!!_

"Go on, Moony! Kiss her!" James said seriously, like nothing had happened.

"I'm not kissing a bird!" Remus replied stubbornly.

"Moony..."

"It won't work! If it was that simple..."

"If it was simple, you would've already done it," Sirius commented.

"I think it's worth a try," Peter said, speaking for the first time.

Probably it was the fact that also Peter was encouraging it that convinced Remus. He nodded, then held out his hand so that Chiara flew on his outstretched palm. He brought her to his lips and kissed her beak, then moved his hand away, with a disgusted expression. Nothing happened.

"If that was the true love kiss, I'm Godric Gryffindor," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"You see? Nothing! I did tell you it wouldn't work!" Remus complained lamely.

Chiara's eyes watered. She'd really hoped, if only for a moment, that everything was going to be back to normal. She spread her wings and flew out of the Gryffindor Tower's window, into the already darkening, mid December sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _Give me my sin again._ Romeo and Juliet – Act I – Scene V


	15. Christmas break

She nosedived towards the ground. The days had shortened considerably, and she knew it wouldn't be long before the moon would be out in the sky. Not that it really mattered, since the new moon had passed only a couple of days before and she would be far from solid, hence she couldn't hurt herself too much even if she fell.

And anyway, she wouldn't care. For a couple of minutes, a blissful couple of minutes, she'd believed that she was free. But of course she'd just deluded herself.

Just as she'd expected, she started to change mere seconds after she reached the ground. And once she was back to her human form, she immediately started running towards the forest, wanting nothing more than put the more distance she could between herself and, well... everything. Her eyes filled with tears. Not from sorrow or despair, those were tears of anger. At Lily, for giving her that instant of hope. At Remus, for not being able to break the damned curse. At the moon, for making both of their lives a hell. But mostly, at herself. What had happened to the Chiara Nightingale who was never scared of anything? What had happened to the girl who always knew how to get what she needed and always fended for herself?

"Chiara!" she heard cry behind her.

She needn't to turn to know who it was.

"Leave me alone, Remus!"

But of course he wasn't going to. He ran to her and tried to grab her wrist. His hand just passed through her flesh.

"Merlin, how I hate this," he muttered darkly. She turned and faced him.

"We have something in common, then."

"Chiara, I..."

"Don't. You have nothing to apologize for, Remus. So please, just stop."

She turned again and made to leave, but his quiet, sorrowful voice held her back. "It was my fault. I did this to you. And I'm not even able to save you."

She sighed. She spoke her following words just as quietly, slowly, still giving him her back. "It wasn't your fault, Rem. It was mine. I forced you into this mess. I brought it upon myself."

There was no answer. The only sound to be heard was the whistle of the wind among the branches. When she couldn't bear the silence anymore, she turned to look at Remus once again, even if she was scared of what she would see in his eyes.

But what she saw wasn't what she expected. There was no guilt, no pain, no desperation. He looked strong and determined and in that moment she found that she loved him even more.

"I'm going to save you, Chiara. I'm going to find a way. Even if it means I'll have to give you up. I'll make you fall in love with someone else and I'll have them kiss you, if that's what..."

She actually laughed and shook her head at that. "Rem, really! How do you plan to make me fall in love with someone else? How do you think that would even be possible? I'm yours, completely and forever. Whatever my ancestors would have to say about it!"

He couldn't help but smile. "I don't deserve you."

" _Io non ti merito!_ [I don't deserve you!] But you're right on one thing, we will find a way!"

*

Eventually the day they had to leave for the Christmas holidays arrived.

As always, James was the first up, overexcited by the idea of returning home. He jumped on Sirius' bed and started screaming for him to wake up in his ear.

As always, the shouts did nothing to stop Sirius' snoring, but they roughly interrupted Remus' sleep.

Annoyed, he took his pillow and threw it at James, but he dodged it and Peter, who'd just straightened in his bed waken by James' turmoil too, was hit squarely on the face.

"What the hell?!?"

"Sorry, Wormy. I was aiming at Prongs..."

Peter rolled his eyes and marched to the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself the more loudly he could, which wasn't the reaction Remus expected. Once, Pete would've thrown the pillow back to the sender, and that would've lead to a ruthless pillow fight among all four of them. But recently Peter had been acting just so strange... Remus eyed the door he'd disappeared behind with apprehension, taking a mental note to ask him if anything was wrong at the first chance.

Waking Sirius up was a delicate operation, which involved a lot of shouting and tickling, a bucketful of cold water and a not quite fitting, but equally disturbing, imitation of Mermish.

By the time all four of them were ready, the Gryffindor tower was already deserted, and nearly all the school was out in the grounds waiting for the carriages. They managed to take the very last one and to mount on the Hogwarts Express just in time. There they shoved themselves into their usual compartment and James started his neverending holiday-planning speech.

Sirius was the only one actually listening. For the first time since he started Hogwarts he was looking forward to Christmas. This year he wasn't going to attend to some boring formal party at Grimmauld Place, trying to be polite to all those haughty people, pretending to sympathize with their idiotic Pureblood believes, smiling in the face of his _beloved_ cousins while resisting the urge to strangle them. No, this year he would spend Christmas with the Potters, with a real family who actually cared for him.

Remus had tuned out James' voice almost immediately after the train had left and he was currently focused on the white with snow landscape out of the window. He wasn't sure if he was happy to go home or not. He couldn't deny that he'd been feeling homesick a lot in the last few months. He missed Dad's laughter. He missed Mum's cuddles and cooking. He missed that warmth and that feeling of safety that only the familiar spaces of his house could give him. Yet, at the same time, it just felt wrong moving away from Hogwarts... What would Chiara do now, all alone in the forest? How could he simply leave her behind like that? How would he survive for nearly three weeks so far away from her?

Peter was feeling uncomfortable and lonely. He wasn't sure what had happened inside himself recently, but the more time passed, the more he found he didn't belong with the Marauders anymore. He glanced at his three friends in turn, wishing for them to notice something, to ask him what was wrong... But there was nothing to do, they were totally clueless about his state of mind. What if that seventh-year Slytherin (what was his name, by the way? Nott, maybe?) who'd approached him the week before had been right? What if his friends really never cared for him? What if he would really be safer and more fitting on the opposing side? _For bloody Merlin's sake, guys! Help me!_

"So, what do you think, Moony? Wormtail?"

James' question abruptly broke Peter's train of thought. He blinked and gave him a perplexed stare.

"What?" Remus asked, equally perplexed.

Then Peter hadn't been the only one not paying attention...

"Earth to Remus... I asked if you guys are coming to my place for New Year's Eve!"

"The 30th is the full moon!" Remus protested.

"So what? New Year's Eve is the 31st."

Sirius chuckled and Remus rolled his eyes. Peter felt a sudden and inexplicable surge of dislike towards all three of them. What was going on with him?

"I don't think I'll be able to come. I think my mother wants to take me visit some cousins or something..." It was a lie. He hadn't made any projects with his mother about the holidays. But he knew in that moment that he didn't want to spend his time at James' place, or at any of the other two's, for all that mattered.

"That's too bad, Wormy!" Sirius lamented. "Come on, try and ask your mother if you can come! I'm sure she'll understand!"

"I'll try..." he replied, sounding unconvinced. "Sorry, guys, but my legs are feeling sore. Think I'm going for a stroll."

*

On boxing day, Remus had locked himself up in his bedroom with the only company of Lady Capulet's diary and the play's script. He'd really tried to enjoy his time at home with his family. He'd actually managed to have fun the day before. But now he needed to resume looking into Chiara's problem again. He knew, deep down, that Lily's intuition was right and that there was no escaping it, but he was still hoping to find an alternative solution.

Suddenly, he heard a soft knock on his door. His mother peered inside whispering a soft "May I?"

Remus immediately collected all his sheets and shoved them disorderly under his pillow, while sitting up straight into his bed.

"What were you doing?" Silvia Lupin asked her son, sitting on the bed beside him.

"Nothing important," he answered dismissively, with a shrug.

"I'm worried about you. What's wrong, child?"

Remus gave her an offended stare. "I'm no child, Mum!" he complained. "I'm turning of age in two months!"

She couldn't help but smile. "Alright. I'll reformulate. What's wrong, grown-up man?"

He just rolled his eyes. She waited for a bit, but no answer came. "Remus..."

"It's nothing."

She gave him an evaluating look, which he avoided, looking at his feet instead. "Who is she?" she asked suddently.

He lifted his glare on her, disbelieving. "How..."

"I'm your mother, Remus. You have the same light in your eyes your father had when I turned him down the first time he asked me out."

"You turned Dad down..."

"Remus!"

"Alright. It's Chiara Nightingale."

"Of course she is. Why did I even have to ask?"

"But it's not the way you're thinking... This is... complicated..."

"How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"Whatever you're thinking, that's not it."

"Is this about your lycanthropy? Because from what you told me about her, she's an intelligent girl. She won't be bothered by it."

"She already knows about my lycanthropy. What she thinks about it is not the matter. It's just... complicated." He didn't want to get into all the curse thing with his mother. Not that he didn't trust her judgement, but the only idea of explaining everything to yet another person, especially to one of his parents, was tiring. It was just too much to handle for him right in that moment.

"You know..." Silvia started speaking after a long, embarassed silence. "Long before I met your father, when I was still back in Italy... There was this boy..."

What?! Was she going to talk to him about some old flame of hers?! Why on earth would she think that was going to help him?!

"His name was Lorenzo. He was a couple of years older than me. Lovely boy. Sweet, smart, funny... And with the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen."

"Mummy!"

"Just let me finish. I was terribly in love with him. There was only one problem."

"Which problem?" Remus asked, somehow tiredly. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know.

"He was a Muggle," she answered simply.

"And why was it a problem?"

"Well... Now don't take me wrong. Your granma and granpa has never been prejudiced or anything... But they still didn't like that I was dating a Muggle. They thought I deserved better. They complained about it a lot. Not only with me, but with all our community. And, well... The news of my _betrayal_ arrived to the ears of the wrong people..."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Remus, language!"

"Sorry."

"One afternoon... We sneaked into the Cappella Sistina. It was closed to public for maintenance, but I Confused the keepers."

Remus gave his mother another disbelieving look. He couldn't picture her doing that.

"Oh, come on! Don't look at me that way! I've been an adolescent too! Anyway... We stayed a few minutes there, seated on the ground, just looking at the vault. Then they arrived." Silvia closed her eyes and a slight shiver ran through her spine. Remus was staring at her with concern and fear. He really didn't want to know the end of the story.

"There were three of them. I couldn't see their faces, cause they wore hoods. I tried to grab my wand, but they Disarmed me before I could do anything. And then they... they... they Crucioed us both."

"What?!?"

"It didn't last long, fortunately. Your grandad found and rescued us. Those three monsters were arrested and I really hope they'll rot in prison for a long, long time... Erm... Forget what I just said," she added sheepishly.

Remus shook his head. He couldn't understand how his mother could worry about being polite even in that frangent. "What happened next?"

"Nothing. We were checked up by a team of Healers, and once they'd established none of us had suffered any major fisical or mental damage, they sent us home."

"I sense a but..."

"But Lorenzo refused to ever see me again after that episode. And I really can't blame him. I've spent ages feeling guilty about it. I thought that would've never happened if I'd just left him alone. I thought that I could've stopped them if I'd just been older, or stronger, or more skilled. But then I realised that it hadn't been my fault. That sometimes things just happen and that we can't control them and we just have to accept them."

Remus pondered those words. Did she mean that he had to surrender and just accept Chiara's fate as inevitable? No, there was no way he would just stop fighting and do nothing. "Does Dad know about all this?"

Silvia shook her head. "I never talked about it with anyone."

"And why did you decide to tell me now?"

"I don't know... I just felt I should." She gave him a kiss on the forehead and made to leave.

"Mum!" Remus called her back.

"Yes?"

"James invited us for New Year's Eve... Is it ok to you if I go?"

"If you feel up to it, I don't see why not," Silvia answered with a smile. "Be quick with your homework, or whatever you were doing earlier. Uncle Robert is coming in a half hour. I want you downstairs by the time he arrives."

*

The morning of the 31st Remus woke up with a large amount of fresh cuts and a pounding headache, yet compared with the last few months he was in top shape.

He sat down at the dining table with his parents for breakfast. His mother pushed a plate full of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, while his father winked at him from behind his copy of the Prophet. It was great to be at home.

Once he finished eating and helping his mother in the kitchen, he sent an owl to James to confirm his presence for the night.

At four o' clock that afternoon, James, Sirius and James' parents were all gathered in the vast parlour of Potter Mansion, waiting for the Lupins to arrive. Suddenly, green flames erupted in the large marble fireplace, and a few seconds later Remus got out, brushing off the soot from his sleeves and hair.

"Hi, guys," he greeted them cheery.

"Hey, Moony! So you managed it?" James asked, smiling back.

Remus shrugged, while John and Silvia got out one after the other from the fireplace behind him.

"Hello, Fleamont. Euphemia. It's been a long time," John said, shaking both their hands.

"Too true, John, old chap. Too true."

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh, no, Euphemia. Thanks. We are in a bit of a hurry, actually. Just came to drop Remus and say hello."

"By the way..." Silvia intervened, a bit apprehensively. "You know, yesterday was the full moon and... Well, Remus seems quite fine, but if anything happens, if he isn't feeling well or anything..."

"Mum!" Remus complained.

"Don't worry, Silvia. If we've been able to handle our son for nearly seventeen years, we'll be able to handle yours for a night."

James rolled his eyes at his mother, while everyone else burst out laughing.

"Anyway, don't hesitate to call us at any hour if there are problems," John said. "And thank you for your hospitality."

"Don't mention it. It's always a pleasure."

*

"I didn't."

James chuckled, while Sirius replied, "Oh, yes, you did!"

It was more or less three hours into 1977. Fleamont and Euphemia had gone to bed right after the midnight toast, while the boys had gathered into James' bedroom and were currently sitting in a circle on the floor with James' Snitch fluttering around their heads.

"It's not true!" Remus insisted.

"It is!" James rebated amused. "She kissed you on the cheek and you spilled your pumpkin juice all over your uniform... It was hilarious!"

"I was twelve! And you two are such prats!"

"Well... I'm bored!" Sirius cut in. "Are we going to bring up the past all night or are we going to do something?"

"Truth or dare?" James proposed, a bit absent-mindedly. He was following the Snitch's movements with the concentration of a cat on the prowl, then he suddenly threw himself on Sirius.

"Merlin, Prongs! Be careful!"

"Sorry." But he didn't seem sorry at all as he smiled proudly at the Snitch clutched into his hand.

"Put that thing away, will you? And anyway, there's no point playing truth and dare. We already know everything about each other. And I really can't imagine what we could dare each other to do... If at least there were some girls..."

"By the way. What about Pete?"

" _By the way_ , Rem? Are you implying Wormtail is a girl?"

"You are a git, Prongs!"

"You already said it before."

"No. I said _prat_ before."

"I'm still bored!" Sirius interrupted.

"Snowball fight?"

Remus gave James an astounded look. "You want to go outside? In this cold weather?"

"Never stopped us before."

"And what about your parents? If they hear us..."

"We will probably never turn of age. But they won't hear us. Besides, it's not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal?" Sirius asked chuckling. "Dying? You should work on your survival instinct, Prongsie."

The three friends tiptoed their way across the upper floor's corridor, being particularly careful while passing in front of James' parents bedroom, and down the marble staircase which lead to the entrance. Sirius tripped on the last step and found himself lying flat on the floor, the thud of his fall echoing loudly in the large halls of the mansion.

"Merlin, Pads! How can you be so clumsy?" James asked in a whisper, helping him on his feet again. Then all three of them disappeared out into the garden.

*

"Fleamont!" Euphemia exclaimed alarmed, waking up suddenly.

"What?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"That noise... Didn't you hear it?"

"Noise?"

Then they heard the sound of the front door shutting. Euphemia's eyes widened in fright and she turned towards her husband, who returned her glare with a tense expression.

"Alright," Fleamont said quietly. "Let's go downstairs to check."

They took their wands and silently left their bedroom.

*

"James Charlus Potter!!!"

For a moment, James froze in place hearing his mother's cry. Then he dropped his snowball and turned to face her with a sheepish smile. "Morning, Mum..."

"What in the name of Merlin do you think you're doing?!? Have you got an idea what the bloody time it is?!? You're going to catch a cold!!!"

Fleamont looked at his wife. She was the portrait of fury, she could be so scary at times.

Then he looked at the three boys. They were all sodden, with worried and guilty expressions on their faces. Poor young Remus was trembling, if out of cold or of fear was hard to tell. His son's glasses laid all crooked on his nose, and Sirius' hair, usually perfectly combed, looked messier than James' on a normal occasion. Fleamont burst out laughing. Euphemia turned to him enraged. "What's so funny, Fleamont?!"

"You... Them... Everything..."

James realized that they weren't in that much trouble after all and sighed of relief. Then his expression turned into a mischievous smile. "Hey, Dad! Do you think this is funny?"

A snowball hit Fleamont squarely on the face. He turned to look at his son again, disbelieving. "You little rascal!" Then he took a handful of snow from the ground and threw it at his son.

"Fleamont! What are you doing?"

"Giving your son a lesson."

"Really. How old are you?"

"Two years older than you, Love."

She rolled her eyes while the fight resumed before her, Fleamont totally on it like he was a little kid himself. _Males!_ she muttered to herself. And shaking her head she made her way inside the house again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the Marauders' parents:
> 
> Fleamont and Euphemia Potter are canon for James' parents (source: Pottermore). They had different names in the original version of this story, but I decided to change them and stick with canon.
> 
> Conversely, for Remus' parents, I preferred to ignore Pottermore canon (Lyall and Hope) and keep my own headcanon that I built long before their names and story were revealed. The name Silvia is a reference of her Italian origins and was chosen because it links to Rea Silvia, mother of Romulus and Remus in the myth.


	16. Meetings in Hogsmeade

It was the middle of January. Holidays were by now a distant memory and reality had broken into the Marauders' lives once again. For Remus, reality primarily meant Chiara's curse.

"Ok. So, here's the plan," he whispered in a conspiratorial way to his friends one day at breakfast.

Sirius rolled his eyes, already knowing that whatever Remus' plan was, it would surely be rubbish. Lily gave him a skeptical look, clearly thinking along the same line. The other two seemed to not have been listening at all; James was watching the Great Hall's ceiling with apprehension (Sirius knew he was trying to evaluate the weather conditions and consequently their chances in the upcoming match against Hufflepuff) and Peter simply seemed lost in his own thoughts (for Sirius it was quite a shocking discovery that he was able to think at all).

"Chiara always had a thing for Corner, right? So I'll talk to him and..."

"Please, Remus! Don't be ridicolous!" Lily protested.

"I'm not being ridicolous!"

"You're too! Chiara had a crush on Matthew, it's true. But she hasn't been thinking of him in ages. Not since your audition. She's never stopped talking about you since then."

Remus opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, as his face took a violent tinge of crimson and his expression turned to an odd mixture of astonishment and embarassment.

"You all know who we should talk about this to, don't you?" Lily asked, glaring severely at each and any of the four Marauders. She elbowed James hard in the side when she realised he wasn't paying any attention and he jumped, startled, then muttered a quick apology to the girl, his cheeks turning an even more bright shade of red than Remus' had a few moments before.

"No, we don't. Who?" Sirius asked, perplexed.

"Dumbledore."

"Honestly, Evans... Dumbledore? He's amazing and all, but I doubt he would be Chiara's first choice..."

"Merlin, Black! Be serious!" Lily exclaimed. "Or maybe not..." she added, rolling her eyes, as both him and James gave out a chuckle.

"Erm... I must admit I'm with Sirius on this, Lily. I really can't see why we should tell Dumbledore..."

"Because, Remus, he's the greatest wizard of all times. If someone can find a way to break the curse, which doesn't involve physical displays of affection, that would be him. And because he recommended to report to the teachers any news concerning Chiara, a thing we should've done ages ago. And because asking for help is not a crime, Remus; you can't carry the weight of the world upon your shoulders alone all the time."

Remus nodded. He wasn't really convinced about talking to Dumbledore, but Lily had reminded him there was another adult he had a duty to update about everything.

So that morning, during a free period between Potions and Arithmancy, he went to the Owlery, equipped with ink and parchment, to write and send his letter.

*

In that same free period, Peter Pettigrew was wandering around the castle alone. James and Sirius were down at the Pitch for their bloody Quidditch training and Remus had disappeared Merlin-knew-where. His feeling of abandonment and non-membership had nothing but increased day after day recently. He needed a new objective, he needed a purpose, he needed a place to belong.

Those were the reasons that prompted him to call after the tall, dark-haired boy he spotted just a little bit further along the corridor he'd been crossing. "Hey, Nott!"

The older Slytherin stopped and turned towards him. At first he looked cold and diffident, then his features softened into a kind smile as he recognized Peter. "Pettigrew. You've been thinking about my offer, then?"

"Well..." he started hesitantly. "Yeah, I did. A bit. And I... I might be interested in... learning more."

Nott's smile widened, but there was something unsettling about it. It was somehow famelic, like Peter was a tempting tidbit he was setting about to taste. "Glad to hear it. In this case, you wouldn't mind join me and some others for a little gathering during next month's Hogsmeade trip. I'll let you know hour and location... If you're interested, that is."

Peter bit his lip. A voice in his head was screaming at him _Say no!_ but he was curious. After all, it was only a students' meeting. What damage could it do? He nodded.

*

A couple of days later a barn owl Remus didn't recognize let an envelope fall in front of him and then immediately flew away.

"What's that?" James asked, curious.

"Anna Nightingale's answer, I reckon."

"Chiara's mother? Why didn't you tell us you wrote to Chiara's mother?" Sirius asked surprised. Remus just shrugged as he opened the envelope.

_Dear Remus,_

_I was pleasantly surprised to receive your letter this morning._

_How are you? Really hope that you're alright._

_You said you had news to share regarding Chiara, which is more than I dared hope. I don't think she is in any sort of mortal danger, otherwise you would've told me straight away, wouldn't you?_

_We definitely need to talk, face to face. When is your next Hogsmeade trip? We could meet at the Three Broomsticks for lunch, if you please._

_I look forward for your answer._

_Sincerely,_

_Anna._

"When's next Hogsmeade trip?" Remus asked the others.

"The 10th of February."

"How do you know?" James asked, amazed by Peter's quickness.

"It was on the bulletin board. I'm able to read, you know?"

Remus sighed and shook his head, while writing down a quick reply with the date to Mrs. Nightingale. James had already forgotten his astonishment and had decided to exploit the information to his advantage.

"Hey, Lils!" he called through the Gryffindor table, at the red-headed sitting with Mary and Alice a bit further. "Hogsmeade trip on February the 10th. You coming with me?"

Sirius smacked James on the back of his head and everyone, including Lily, chuckled at the scene. Then the three girls left the Great Hall, leaving James without an answer.

"Hey, guys. Do you think... I mean, Lily and I..."

"She'll accept your invitation. If you quit being a fat-headed idiot and ask her in a gentle way."

James' face brightened at Remus' words. "Do you really think she will?"

"Of course she will! I can't believe I'm saying that, but... You two are the perfect match, Prongs."

James' smile widened. "Thanks, mate!" he exclaimed gratefully, then left the Great Hall behind the girls.

*

The morning of the tenth Remus, Sirius, James and Lily left together for their walk to the village. Peter wasn't coming, he'd earned himself a detention from McGonagall for not handing in time some homework. Lily had finally agreed to go on a real date with James, and Remus wasn't exactly sure which Sirius' plans for the day were, since he hadn't said. But all three of them had agreed to first accompany Remus to his appointment with Anna Nightingale. They knew he was too nervous to go on his own.

They reached the village and they went first-thing into Honeyducks, where Remus bought himself a huge bar of dark chocolate, his favourite. Then they paid a not-so-quick visit to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, on the insistence of Lily, who apparently was in desperate need of ink of every possible colour. Finally, even if it was still a bit early to meet Mrs. Nightingale, they decided to move to the pub.

The Three Broomsticks was overcrowded, as usually happened when Hogwarts students were allowed to visit the village, but the four friends managed to find a table anyway. While they took a seat, Sirius caught Madam Rosmerta's eye and waved in her direction. She immediately reached their table to attend to the newly arrived customers.

"Hello, Rosmerta! Always more charming!" Sirius said in a flirtatious tone, winking at her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she said impatiently, rolling her eyes, but a slight blush coloured her cheeks. "So, four Butterbeers?"

"Butterbeers? Please, Rosie, we're all of age... almost... Bring us some Firewhiskey."

"I've told you a hundred times that I'm not selling students Firewhiskey, Mr. Potter! And I've told you a hundred times not to call me Rosie!"

"Four Butterbeers will be great, Rosmerta, thank you," Remus intervened, with the kindness and condescension that characterized him.

She nodded in a business fashion and went back to the counter. Everyone started to fish in their pockets for money, but Sirius stopped them. "Save your gold, guys. This round is on me." And he reached Rosmerta to the counter, probably with the explicit purpose of embarassing her a bit more.

A half hour and a couple of rounds of Butterbeer later, the bells on the entrance rang and a woman stepped into the pub, accompanied by a gust of frigid wind.

"Mrs. Nightingale. Down here," Lily called, standing up and waving.

The woman moved towards their table and squeezed Lily into a hug. "Lily! I'm so glad to see you again, dear! How are you doing?"

"Fine, thanks. What about you?"

"I must admit I've been better," she said with a sigh.

Then she directed her attention to the three boys. She quickly introduced herself to James and Sirius, shaking their hands a bit distractedly, then finally turned to the last boy.

"Hello, Remus," she said, smiling at him sweetly.

"Hello, Mrs. Nightingale," he answered slowly, not quite meeting her eyes.

"Well. I really have to go, now," Sirius declared, checking his watch.

"Go where?" Remus asked, taken aback.

"I have a date with Marlene in ten minutes. Didn't I tell you?"

"No."

"Well, I'm telling you now. See you later, guys. Bye, Mrs. Nightingale." And he disappeared out of the pub.

"I suppose we'll go too, Moony," James said immediately after. "You have a lot to discuss, and we're supposed to be on a date as well."

Remus just nodded. He'd hoped that his friends would've stayed, but maybe it was better if he and Anna had that conversation alone. He couldn't help but sigh as James took Lily by the hand and led her outside. What wouldn't he have done to hold Chiara's hand that way.

*

"Let me get this straight," Anna said tiredly, after listening to Remus' story for a good twenty minutes. "She turns into a bird every day and she's human only at night?"

Remus nodded. How many times would he have to repeat it?

"And you reckon that a kiss would break the curse? But she can be kissed only on a full moon night, exactly when you could never do it?"

He nodded again. "That's what Lily guessed, at least. But I think she's right. It makes sense, in a way... Or maybe not. Nothing about this makes any sense at all!"

"It does make sense," Anna countered bitterly.

Remus took a better look of her. She seemed a lot older than how he remembered from the last, and first, time they met. Her curly brown hair were streaked with grey, which they hadn't before. Her hazel eyes were surrouded by heavy, dark bruises and she had a couple of new wrinkles on her forehead.

"I'm sorry," he said slowly.

" _Non è colpa tua._ " [It's not your fault.]

" _Sì, invece._ " [Instead, it is.]

She couldn't help but smile at his attempt with Italian. "What are you planning to do?"

"I honestly don't know. I thought about finding her a... Paris, if you know what I mean. But Lily says it's a silly idea. She suggested to talk to Dumbledore, to see if he can come up with a solution, but I doubt he would be able to do anything..."

"Seems like a no-way-out situation."

"Seems like that."

"At least, she's alright," she said, trying to soothe herself more than the boy in front of her.

"I suppose," he agreed reluctantly, refraining from saying that Chiara's current state was anything but alright.

"Do you think I could meet her?" she asked, looking at him with hope and plead gleaming in her eyes.

"Usually, she stays in a clearing in the Forbidden Forest. I shall lead you there, I suppose."

She nodded, smiling gratefully, and they left the pub together.

*

Peter waited for all the students from third year up to leave before putting into motion his plan. He went back to the dorm he shared with the Marauders and nicked James' Invisibility Cloak from his trunk. Hopefully, he would be back before everyone else did, and James would never noticed that his Cloak had been missing. Then he went to the statue of the one-eyed witch. He walked the long tunnel leading to the cellar of Honeydukes, mulling everything over in his head. Was he doing the right thing? He couldn't deny that he was scared to death, and he knew that his friends would've killed him, figuratively speaking of course, only for taking it into consideration. _His friends..._ He couldn't believe how easily they'd believed him when he'd told them about the detention. Idiots!

He checked twice the address Nott had given him; once he was sure no one was around to see, he took off the cloak and put on the mask, as he'd been instructed to do, and finally lowered the handle and carefully entered the house.

He heard voices coming from downstairs and followed them, entering a big, bare room with stone walls and pavement, already occupied by around twenty people standing in a circle in total silence.

 _You're still in time to run away,_ he told himself. Instead he swallowed and joined the circle.

Two figures were in the center. They also wore masks, just like anyone else in the room, but Peter could tell that they were a man and a woman and that they were some years older than him and all the others, not students anymore.

"Welcome, young friends," the man's mellifluous voice said, a voice Peter recognized from his early years in Hogwarts, Lucius Malfoy's voice. "Welcome to our first meeting. We're glad and happy to accept you all in our great family."

He flicked his wand and a glass with some unknown liquid appeared in everyone's hand. The smell made Peter feel dizzy, he'd never been a great fan of alcohol. He remembered accidentally drinking a glass of Gillywater during a post Quidditch match celebration in his third year and then being sick all night. It wasn't a pleasant memory.

"To the Dark Lord!" Malfoy exclaimed, lifting his glass.

A chorus raised from the circle, echoing Lucius' toast. Peter, who'd remained silent even if he'd imited the lifting-glass gesture, noticed that a couple of people had sounded proud and confident, but most voices were shaky and uncertain. That relieved him a little. He wasn't the only one feeling nervous and doubtful.

After everyone drank, the glasses were vanished and Lucius resumed his speech. "We all know why we are here. Our world has been contaminated by the horrible plague of Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers..."

A soft whispering ran through the group. Peter could imagine disgusted expressions on the faces hidden by the masks all around him. He found himself wondering what was his opinion about all the blood purity affair. He'd never given the thing much thought. He'd never despised Muggleborns, but never really condemned those who did either. He simply never cared.

"Some of us," Lucius went on, and he seemed to look directly at Peter this time. "have even been forced to share their dorm with dangerous half-breeds."

What?!? Was he talking about Remus?!? How did he know about his furry little problem?!? And why was he looking at him?!? Did he know that it was Peter behind the mask?!?

"... and we really hope that each and any of you will prove worthy and loyal to our Lord's noble cause," Malfoy concluded after a while.

"Hey, now wait a minute!" Peter protested loudly. Everyone turned towards him and he could feel their astonishment. He immediately regretted his outburst, but it was too late to back down. "No one ever said that we would have to prove anything. I didn't think we would have to join straigh away... I thought this was some sort of... informative meeting, or something..." he concluded lamely.

"Come closer, my boy," Lucius said, way too sweetly for Peter's liking. He took an hesitant step forward.

"Closer, young man. Don't be shy."

Peter advanced more, till he was face to face with the Death Eater. Malfoy raised his hand and slapped him on the face, hard, while derisive laughter raised from the people surronding them.

"You didn't think you would have to join?" Lucius whispered in Peter's ear mockingly. "Do you think this is a game, Peter Pettigrew?"

Peter gulped at the mention of his name. Lucius went on. "Yes, I know who you are. I know the names of all the people who are here today. And this is not a game, Peter. This is war. By coming here today, you already picked a side. And I would recommend you, for your own good, not to try to step back."

Lucius stepped aside and exchanged a look with the woman who, Peter realised only in that moment, had her wand out and pointed straightly at Peter's chest.

*

Peter had heard about the Cruciatus Curse before. He surely had never imagined that he would experience it in first person one day. He could tell the curse he'd been subjected to wasn't a full-power one. The pain was indeed unbearable, like being set to fire and pierced by a thousand knives at the same time, but it wasn't as overwhelming and mind-blowing as it was supposed to be. Peter's mind was totally lucid and aware of everything around him, which made it even worse in a way.

Tears prickled the corner of his eyes, but he refused to let them stream out.

 _Don't,_ he told himself. _Don't show them that you're weak. Don't beg. Don't scream. Don't cry. Be brave. Show them you're a true Gryffindor._

 _Brave? A true Gryffindor? You?_ another voice argued in his head. _Please, don't make me laugh._

And finally, he couldn't stand it anymore. "Fine! Fine, I'm with you! Just stop!"

He felt the effects of the curse wear off, but the pain was still there. He lay there, curled up on the cold stone floor, trembling.

"Very good. You made the right choice," he heard Lucius' voice say, but it was like a distant echo. "Is there anyone else who have any... concern about joining us?"

Nobody answered.

They were discharged shortly after and all left quickly. Only one boy stayed behind. He approached Peter, who was still lying on the floor, and knelt beside him.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The boy removed his mask to reveal Nott's smiling face. "Breath hard, Peter. It will ease the pain."

"You! Liar!"

"Now, now... Did I lie? I might've omitted some little detail. Besides, you would've never come if I told you exactly what this was all about, would you?"

Peter didn't answer. Of course he wouldn't, that was exactly the point! For Merlin's fucking sake, in which kind of mess had he thrown himself into?!

"By the way, I think you did great. See you around, Peter."


	17. The Mark

Despite everything, Peter managed to be the first back to the castle. He didn't see the Marauders until after dinner; he decided it wiser to skip it, since he would surely throw up otherwise.

When his three friends entered their dormitory, they found him in his pajamas, seated cross-legged on his bed, with his Transfiguration's book on his lap.

"Hey, Wormy! You weren't at dinner..." Sirius exclaimed as he saw him.

_Really, Padfoot. Aren't you observant,_ he thought sarcastically.

"Not really hungry," he answered instead with a shrug. "So, how was your day?"

"Great!" Sirius exclaimed cheerfully, launching himself onto his bed. "You guys could never imagine how good of a kisser Marly is... And, believe me, I have some experience."

Peter noticed both Remus and James giving him murderous looks. It struck at him as odd. He could totally see why the kissing topic could be unpleasant for Remus, but he really couldn't guess why it would be so for James too. "And you two, instead?"

Remus was going to recount about his conversation with Anna and their meeting with Chiara later, but James spoke up before he could. "There's really not much to tell."

"Not much to tell?!" Remus asked, his eyebrows so high they disappeared under his fringe. "You finally manage to go on a date with the girl of your dreams, and you say that there's not much to tell?!"

"Yeah. There's not much to tell."

"Prongs, mate... Did something happen... I mean, are you and Lily..." Sirius started cautiously.

"Lily and I are totally fine, thank you," he answered coldly, purposefully avoiding his best friend's eyes.

Peter felt, more than seeing, Remus and Sirius exchanging a concerned look, but his attention was totally on James. What had happened to him? Had things with Evans gone that bad? Did they have a row? Nothing easier, if he'd been the usual arrogant prat... Why did Peter even care, anyway? These weren't his friends anymore, not after what had happened that afternoon. His enemies, if anything. He'd better start to think about them that way immediately, if he didn't want to get hurt.

"Pete, are you okay?" Remus. Obviously. He was always the one who noticed when Peter was off. If he wasn't too busy self-pitying, at least...

"Yeah, sure. Only a bit tired," he answered, forcing a smile on his lips.

"Was detention with McGonagall so bad?" Sirius asked sympathetically.

"Nah... She only gave me lines. But I must admit, after writing one hundred times _I will put more effort in my education_ , your right hand can get sore..."

Sirius laughed sonorously and even James gave out a little chuckle. Only Remus didn't seem amused. "You know, Pete. You truly should put a bit more effort in your studies. Exams are coming soon and..."

"I do put effort in it! Sorry, Remus, if I'm not as brilliant as you three are! Forgive me but, as I said, I'm tired. Goodnight." He shut the curtains around his bed and hid his face into his pillow, wetting it with silent tears.

"Peter! Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you! I..." Remus sighed and sat down, a guilty and tired look on his face. "I only wanted to help," he concluded softly. He felt Sirius posing a hand on his shoulder. "Remus, are you..."

"No, I'm not alright! First Chiara! Now Peter! How is it that anytime I try to do something good for someone, I end up hurting them?!"

"Moony, that's not true," James intervened soothingly.

"Just leave me alone, okay?"

*

The following morning everything seemed to be back to normal. Well, as much as it could be...

Peter's eyes were bloodshot, like he hadn't slept all night, or like he'd been crying, or maybe both, yet his smile was friendly and he didn't seem to be angry or upset in any way.

Remus, for his part, seemed a lot upset. But then again, he'd been like that since Chiara's disappearence, or possibly all year. Now that Sirius thought about it, Remus had been upset since the very first time they met, so that was nothing new.

James was, well, being James. His weird mood from the previous evening had totally gone, and he hadn't stopped talking about Quidditch since they left their dormitory. The only moment he seemed slightly troubled was when the girls joined them for breakfast. The way he and Lily interacted was a little bit too formal and polite but, apart from the slight awkwardness, they seemed friendly enough towards each other and totally normal with everyone else. Sirius wondered once again what had occurred between the two during their date but decided not to ask. James would tell eventually, if and when he would feel like it.

Nothing noteworthy happened for the next two weeks, not that Sirius noticed, anyway. Remus was still completely focused on Chiara's curse, but coming up with nothing, and none of them had made any progress in that matter. Actually, Sirius had very limited time to think about the curse, since James was forcing the Quidditch team to practice at all hours of night and day. It seemed that, with the match against Hufflepuff approaching, James had decided that every lesson-free minute would be wasted if spent out of the Quidditch Pitch. Sirius had a feeling this obsession had more to do with avoiding Lily Evans than with winning the match, but he kept the thought to himself.

The only real change was in Peter's behaviour. He spent a lot of time on his own, often disappeared for hours and seemed always exhausted and sleep-deprived. He'd definitely taken that comment of Remus' about not caring enough for study too seriously...

*

Peter was scared. Scared by the idea of becoming a Death Eater, which seemed inevitable at that point. Scared of the Dark Lord and of what he would ask of him. Scared of anyone finding out. What would his mother say if she knew? And the Marauders? He was trying to hate them, he truly was, but simply couldn't. Maybe they weren't always the best of friends, but he knew they loved him, and he loved them back. There were moments in which he would've wanted to confess them everything, but the memory of his first Death Eaters' meeting, of Bella's Cruciatus Curse casted on him, prevented him from uttering a word.

Other meetings had followed that first one in Hogsmeade; because of them Peter had lost a little too many hours of sleep, not to say his health and sanity. He knew what would happen the next time he was summoned. He prayed that time arrived as late as possible. Even better, never. But he had no such luck.

It was Thursday afternoon, two days before the famous Quidditch match that seemed to be the only thing on James' mind in the last few weeks. In fact, James hadn't stopped talking about schemes and strategies for all the way towards DADA, something that was annoying Peter to no end. Then, suddenly, someone gave Peter a shove while heading in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" he exclaimed angrily, turning around towards the rude stranger. He froze as his eyes met Nott's. The other boy gave him an imperceptible nod before disappearing around the corner. It was in that moment that Peter noticed the little piece of paper in his pocket.

"Damned Slytherins! I'm going to give that moron a lesson!"

"It's not worth it, Prongs. Just let it go."

"But Wormtail..."

"Just let it go, I said!"

"Alright. As you wish," James replied with a shrug.

*

Everyone had their eyes fixed on Professor Dearborn's gleaming eagle Patronus and Peter profited from the distraction to pull out Nott's note. Only a few words were written on it.

_Tonight. Same time, same place._

Peter felt sick. Tonight? As in five hours from now, tonight? It couldn't be happening for real. He wasn't ready, not yet. Merlin, he was just a kid! The eagle flew in front of him, making him jump startled, before disappearing in a puff of silver smoke.

"Now it's your turn. Concentrate on a happy memory and show me what you can do," the Professor said in a business-like fashion. _A happy memory?! Is he kidding?!_

*

The four Marauders were in their dormitory together. Remus was reading some huge book and James was driving Sirius crazy with Quidditch talking. "Cause if we win by more than fifty points, we will be atop the leaderboard. And..."

"Jamie! Cut it off, seriously!"

"Well, guys... I have to go."

Everyone turned to Peter awestruck.

"You have to go? Where?" Remus asked surprised.

"I... erm..." Peter's mind raced to find a suitable excuse. Why hadn't he thought about making one up sooner? "Damocles Belby offered to tutor me in Potions," he ended, trying to make his hesitation from before pass as embarassment.

"Who? That idiot from Ravenclaw?" James intervened. "If you need tutoring in Potions, why didn't you ask Lily? She's the best potioneer out there... Well, apart from Snivellus, but I would never recommend you to ask the greasy git..."

"I didn't want to bother you. Besides, it was Belby who asked."

"Bother us? Pete, we are your friends! We would be glad to help!" Remus exclaimed appaled.

"Well... That's great and all, but I have to go now." Peter repeated annoyed.

"Okay, but... just remember. James is brilliant at Transfiguration, and I'm quite good at Defence, so if you need a hand in those subjects too..."

"Sure, Remus. Thanks. Bye." He disappeared at light speed leaving the other three astonished and vaguely concerned.

"Do you reckon he'll be fine?" Remus wondered aloud. "I mean, he's stressing himself too much..."

"This is all your fault, Moony. Why did you say to him all that nonsense about studying more?"

Remus gave Sirius a murderous glare and James burst out laughing. The other two soon joined in and any worry about their other friend was gone.

*

Peter entered the dark room alone, like the ones that had preceded him. The door closed behind him with a disturbing creak and the man turned to face him.

His skin was paler than a corpse's, his nose reduced to two slits like a snake's and his eyes were the colour of blood. He smiled, but it was cold and cruel. Peter took a step back.

"What's your name?" Voldemort asked.

"P-Peter, Sir."

"Peter? And what else? I expect you to have a surname, too..."

"Pettigrew," he answered, with just a little bit more confidence.

Voldemort seemed deep in thought for a few seconds, before speaking again. "Pettigrew... This name isn't new to me... Ah, yes, I remember. Sebastian Pettigrew, he was your father, right? A little rebellious one, apparently he found our mission objectionable... Had a little conflict with some of my followers not many years ago, I believe?"

Peter felt an immediate surge of anger. He'd never known the exact circumstances of his father's death, his mother always refused to tell. Was the Dark Lord saying what Peter thought he was saying? Yet the fear was stronger than the anger and he just kept staring at the man in front of him, without saying a word.

"Sad... such a horrible waste... Then, again, that's what happens to filthy blood traitors. It is... let's say... _inevitable_." Voldemort added, with a sickeningly sweet smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Peter closed his and took a long, shaky breath.

"But I suppose this doesn't apply to you, or you wouldn't be here, am I right? Still, I'm a bit surprised... Why are you here, Peter?"

_Because dying was the alternative._ "To serve you, My Lord."

Voldemort didn't even spoke out loud, just flicked his wand subtly, yet the pain was twenty times worse than what Peter had experienced with Bellatrix. He collapsed to the floor and screamed at the top of his lungs, nothing but the pain real anymore.

It lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed a lifetime to Peter.

"Don't lie to me!" Voldemort hissed menacingly. "I always know when someone lies, and I don't tolerate treachery. I will ask you again, Peter Pettigrew. Why are you here?"

Once he'd managed to adjust his breathing, Peter answered, this time totally sincere. "I went to the first meeting because I wanted to prove my friends that I can do without them. And I'm here now because I had no other choice."

Voldemort smiled again, pleased. Peter sighed out of relief in noticing that. "And who might these friends be?"

"James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin."

"Other blood traitors... I suppose they plan to fight in the war against me, don't they?"

"I... I think so..."

"Then, Peter, I think I already have a task for you."

_What?!_ He didn't expect him to kill them or anything... Did he? "And what is it, My Lord?"

"Stick with your friends."

"Pardon?"

"Stick with your friends. And, when the time comes, join Dumbledore's ridicolous resistance."

_What?!_ The Dark Lord wanted Peter to fight against him? That didn't make any sense! Unless... "You want me to spy on them." It wasn't a question.

"Very good, Peter. You are a smart boy. I'm glad of it. And now, your arm."


	18. Peter's epiphany

James had always been very much a morning person, especially when he was nervous or excited about something. And that Saturday morning he was a bit of both.

His eyes suddenly opened when it was only a couple of minutes after six and he felt immediately fully awake.

Had it been any other day, he would've probably forced himself to catch a couple more hours of sleep, but he knew that day wouldn't be possible, not with the prospect of the match so soon.

Not being the type to just lounge in bed, he got up and, trying to make as little noise as possible to avoid disturbing his roommates, he grabbed his Cleansweep five and tip-toed his way out of the dormitory.

It was cold outside, but the sky was clear and with only the slightest gust of wind. Perfect conditions for Quidditch. James made his way through the rime-whitened grounds towards the Pitch. He inaled deeply the frosty morning air, then mounted on his broom and took off into the sky.

He smiled as the air ruffled his hair even more than it naturally was while he picked up speed. He felt like he was in his element once again. Flying wasn't just something he was brilliant at. It made him feel free, and alive. Every worry simply melted away, when he was astride his broom and a good amount of feet from the ground.

He flew around the Pitch for a while, accelerating till he nearly reached the maximum speed allowed by the broom, then he tested his control abilities with some quick swerves and with a fourty feet dive from which he pulled out when he was only mere inches from the ground. He spent at least two hours that way, before finally getting back to the school to retrieve his teammates.

*

All the school was out in the stands to assist to the match. The crowd was split between the red and gold of Gryffindor and the yellow and black of Hufflepuff. Lily sat beside Mary, who sat beside Alice, who sat beside Frank holding his hand and smiling excitedly. Remus and Peter, in the row before theirs, were having a hushed and apparently heated conversation, but Lily didn't really want to know what it was all about.

Finally, the two teams made their entrance onto the Pitch, greeted by the crowd's cheers. James and the Hufflepuff captain, a seventh-year girl named Cecile Smith, shook hands and then all fourteen players were up into the sky.

Both teams were doing fairly well, and none seemed to manage to stay in the lead for long. After an hour or so, the score was 120-100 for Gryffindor and there was still no sight of the Snitch. Lily didn't really care about such trivial things as the outcome of the match, though. She only had eyes for James.

He really was talented. She'd never noticed, because she'd always labeled him as a worthless show-off, yet there was no denying how good of a player he was, when he scored his fourth goal in a row. She was transfixed by the naturalness of his flight. She was also seriously impressed by the way he directed his team. There was absolutely no arrogance in it, and it was clear that he knew very well what he was doing and that every member on the team looked at him with great esteem. Lily wondered, for the umpteenth time that year, what had happened to the overbearing toerag she used to know. Maybe she'd always been wrong about him.

*

The Common Room was filled with laughter, Butterbeers and an overall festive mood. Gryffindor had won in the end, thanks to a spectacular catching by the new Seeker, Madam Hooch's niece Miranda, and the common feeling was that the Cup was already conquered.

Lily took a sip of her pumpkin juice and smiled slightly at the sight of James celebrating with the rest of his team. Then she saw a couple of fourth-year giggling girls approaching him and starting conversing flirtatiously. An unpleasant sensation clung her stomach. She posed her glass on a nearby table and took the stairs to the dormitory.

~

James noticed Lily leaving and all his cheeriness dissolved like a soap bubble. Sirius noticed too and decided it was time to take the matter into his hands.

"You up for a stroke outside, Prongs?"

James just shrugged; Sirius put an arm around his shoulders and drove him out of the Fat Lady's portrait.

~

Alice carefully opened the dormitory's door and found Lily seated on her bed, hugging her pillow, her eyes puffy and red.

"Lils, what's wrong?" She asked delicately, while sitting at the edge of the bed.

"I... It's nothing... I just miss Chiara..."

Alice had to put a great effort not to roll her eyes. "Of course you miss Chiara. But that's not the reason you are like this, is it? The matter is what you wish you could talk to her about. Come on... I might not be Chiara, but I'm still your friend. You can tell me."

Lily stayed silent for a bit, staring at her roommate, unable to decide what to do. "It's James," she finally confessed.

"Yeah, I guessed it... What happened exactly..."

~

"... between you two?" Sirius asked.

"I really don't want to talk about it!" James replied annoyed.

"Listen, James. I'm sick of this behaviour of yours. Just tell me what the bloody hell is wrong!"

"Alright. That's it. Our date was going wonderfully, I could hardly believe we were getting along so perfectly. And then..."

~

"And then?" Alice prompted.

"He was drawing closer. And I was sure he was going to kiss me. I was just so happy and excited. But at the last time he pulled back."

"Oh," was all Alice managed to say in response.

"Why? He's been courting me for years. Years! And then, all of a sudden... Does he even care for me?"

"Of course he does. Lily, he adores you. And if he was only interested in getting into your pants, he wouldn't have pulled back, would he? He probably was just scared."

~

"Scared of what?!" Sirius screamed, disbelieving.

"I don't know, Pads!" James yelled back in frustration. "I don't bloody know what got into me! I mean, I was there, and she was there, and everything was just perfect, but... I don't know. I feared I was going to ruin everything. I feared she would think I was only interested in, well, you know..."

"And here I was, thinking Moony was a total mess..."

"What do I have..."

~

"... to do?" Lily asked, desperate.

"Talk to him. Let him know how you feel about him."

"I don't even know how I feel myself."

"You clearly fancy him, or you wouldn't be so upset over a missed kiss." Alice smiled encouragingly, and Lily managed a shaky smile back.

"Thank you, Alice."

"You're welcome."

*

_Stick with your friends._ That was easier said than done. Every smile from James, every kind word from Remus, every pat on the shoulder from Sirius, made Peter's heart ache with guilt. He would've found it a lot easier to simply drive away from their lives. But he had a duty, and he had to fulfill it if he wanted to live past seventeen.

The guilt haunted him even more at night. He would spend hours awake, twisting in his bed, and when he finally managed to fall asleep, it would be fitful and tormented by nightmares, which usually ended with his friends shouting insults at him just before they got killed by some towering, hooded figure.

The result was that he was always more exhausted. Wednesday morning at breakfast he nearly fell with his face onto his bowl of porridge. He was so tired he was having trouble sustaining the weight of his own head.

"Pete... Are you alright? Someone would think it is you the one who's going to have a furry little problem tonight."

"Wh-what?" Peter asked yawning. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get his brain to functioning again, then he registered Remus' words. "Wait. Do you mean it's already the full moon tonight?!"

"Erm... Yes?"

No... It couldn't be the full moon... He couldn't manage an entire night running around the forest... He needed to sleep. "But it's Wednesday today, isn't it?"

"No, it's Sunday," Sirius replied sarcastically. "That's why we woke up at dawn to go to lesson."

"I can't come with you tonight. I have Astronomy," Peter pointed out, ignoring Sirius' tease.

"Skip it," James said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I can't. I don't want to risk to fail the class." _And I really need to catch some sleep..._

"But..." James started to protest, but Remus cut him off. "Pete's right. He should not skip lessons. So, Jamie, just cut it."

*

Peter was still having difficulties keeping his eyes open, while Professor McGonagall kept lecturing them over the risks of self-transfiguration. He had known all of that stuff since fourth year, when he, James and Sirius had started to actively practice the Animagus transformation, so it wasn't really that interesting. And McGonagall's voice really sounded melodious like a lullaby and...

"Do you think we should wake him?" Remus whispered concerned.

" _No, Moony! I told you! The strawberry jam is on the right shelf!_ " Peter muttered in his sleep.

"Why? This is just so entertaining!" Sirius answered amused.

" _Turn off the light, Sirius. I'm trying to sleep._ "

Sirius just chuckled as Remus shook his head, resigned.

Peter kept sleeping and talking nonsense, while his friends did their best to hide him from McGonagall. When he cried for help because the giant cat was going to eat him, though, Sirius couldn't restrain himself anymore and burst into a booming laugh.

"What's going on down there?" McGonagall asked sternly, her nostrils already flaring dangerously.

"Nothing, Professor," Sirius said, trying to sound innocent but unable to stop his laughter.

McGonagall knew the Marauders too well to be satisfied with that answer. She moved to their desk and she was disconcerted to find one of her students fast asleep.

"Mr. Pettigrew," she called, barely containing her anger.

" _I'm sorry, Professor... I didn't mean to turn your hat into a Puffskein..._ "

This time it wasn't only Sirius laughing. Nearly all the class had joined in.

"Mr. Pettigrew!" McGonagall repeated, just a little louder.

" _But you must admit that it's cuter this way._ "

"MR. PETTIGREW!!!"

Peter suddently woke, startled, and cringed under McGonagall's furious stare. How had he ever thought the Dark Lord was scary?

*

Remus headed to the Hospital Wing at mid-afternoon and James and Sirius left to join him at the Shack right after dinner. _Finally alone!_ Peter couldn't help but think.

He was really tempted to actually skip Astronomy and go straight to bed but it wouldn't be fair... And if his friends found out...

_Well, maybe they'll hate you and stop talking to you, so you wouldn't be able to spy on them anymore._ A voice in his head suggested hopefully.

_Yeah, great plan! Surely the Dark Lord would be so thrilled... My condolences, Peter._ Another voice rebated sarcastically.

Sighing, Peter started climbing the long spiral staircase of the Astronomy Tower.

*

For the first time in a while, the full moon wasn't that bad for Remus. He was obviously dead tired and had his fair gain of fresh wounds the following morning, and as usual Madam Pomfrey kept fussing annoyingly around him and absolutely forbid him to leave the Hospital Wing for the day. But he got to spend the entire afternoon sharing sweets and silly jokes with his friends, and that was enough.

Gratefully, Madam Pomfrey agreed to set him free early the following morning. He had to beg her a lot, but finally he convinced her that he would survive out of her sight.

He headed straight to the Great Hall where mostly everyone was already having breakfast, but instead of moving to the Gryffindor table, he headed towards the Ravenclaw one. He'd just spotted Matthew Corner, and even if everyone kept saying that his was a oafish idea, he wanted to at least give it a try.

"Corner," he called as he approached him.

Corner was talking with Ophelia Abbott, the fifth-year Ravenclaw Prefect, in which was clearly a flirtatious manner. Great, just what Remus needed...

"Lupin," he acknoledged him, slightly surprised.

"I need to talk to you," Remus said, in a tone that sounded stern, even a bit menacing.

"Ooookay..."

"Alone," he clarified, throwing a mistrustful glance in Ophelia's direction.

*

Matthew was quite surprised by Lupin's attitude. Not that he knew him that well, but he always considered him a quiet and easygoing boy... Even if he scared him a little, he followed him out of the Great Hall and the reach of prying ears, curious to find out what it was all about.

Lupin led him into an empty classroom and closed the door behind them. He didn't seem to have that particular hurry to say whatever he had to say, though. He looked at him straight in the eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but then simply blushed and looked at his feet instead.

"Lupin... Are you alright?" Matthew asked concerned.

"Not quite, now that you mention it..."

"What's the matter?"

Lupin bit his lip. "I... I need your help," he finally said uncertain.

"My help? What for?"

"To save Chiara."

"Chiara? Nightingale, you mean? I thought she was missing."

"Well... Not exactly... I know where she is, and I know what happened to her. But I can't help her, not directly, so I need you to do it instead."

Matthew looked at him bewildered. "Me? Why me? It's not like you and Nightingale are my best mates... Why would you ask me for help, out of..."

"Because she fancies you. Well, used to, at least."

"Really?"

"Are you saying you never noticed?! She stared at you in class all the time!"

Matthew gave Lupin yet another astounded glare. This was total news to him. Although, now that he thought about it, Nightingale did use to act awkwardly anytime she was around him. "Okay. Let's say that she fancied me. Why does it matter? What do you expect me to do?"

Remus was already hating himself for his request, but he had to ask him. It was all to Chiara's benefit, and that was all that mattered. "You have to kiss her."

"Sorry?"

Remus sighed again, before replying. "She's under a curse. And the only way to break it, or at least that's what we think, is to kiss her on a full moon night."

"Ooookay..." Matthew said slowly. Lupin clearly had a few screws loose.

"Listen, Corner! I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important! You have to try at least!"

"Why don't you kiss her yourself, since you seem to care so much?"

"I would've already done it, if I could."

"What do you mean, if you could? Why should you not be able to?"

"Because I'm a bloody werewolf!" he screamed, and then his eyes widened in terror as he realized what he'd just confessed.

Matthew couldn't help but take a step back. A werewolf? How was that even possible? Surely Dumbledore couldn't be crazy enough to admit a werewolf into the school, could he? Maybe he didn't know... Matthew had to alert someone, tell the teachers... And he had to run away from the monster as quickly as he could...

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say that... I didn't mean to scare you..." Lupin said in a small voice, and Matthew felt a sudden surge of pity for the other boy.

"Why are you here at the school at all?" he couldn't help but ask, even if he felt a little guilty about it. Lupin shrugged. "Dumbledore said there would be no problem, if we took the appropriate measures... Sometimes I think he was simply delusional..."

Matthew chuckled, feeling a little more at ease all of a sudden. "I still don't understand... Which kind of curse can be broken only by a kiss on a full moon night?"

Lupin started recounting him the whole story, which got more and more incredible as it went on. Eventually it ended, and Matthew pondered it accurately, just like the Ravenclaw he was. "You know... I think your friends are right... I doubt I could actually do anything."

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Because she may have fancied me, but she doesn't anymore. And I never fancied her at all."

"But..."

"She's in love with you, Remus," he went on, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Juliet never married Paris. She chose Romeo, and stayed faithful to him, despite everything. You are the only one who can break the curse, nobody can do it for you."

"But how?" Remus asked, with desperation.

"That, I really don't know. You'll have to figure it out yourself."

*

Peter noticed Remus' sulky mood during lessons that morning, and wondered what was wrong with him. He'd been so cheery the day before, and that had been right after the full moon... Sometimes he truly had trouble understanding him.

The first occasion he had to actually ask was at lunchtime, while all four Marauders were sitting together at the Gryffindor table enjoying their meal.

"Is anything wrong, Moony? Did anything happen?"

"I... I talked to Corner this morning..."

"You talked to Corner?!" Sirius exclaimed outraged. "Really, Rem, you are the thickest person I've ever known! Well, apart from Prongs..."

James threw Sirius a murderous glance, and Peter wondered what that was all about. He had to keep a bit more attention... For being one supposed to spy on his friends, there was a lot going on with them which he had no idea about. "What did he say?"

"That he can't do anything. That Chiara is in love with me and even if he kissed her it wouldn't help anything."

"And he's right. That's what we told you too," Sirius insisted.

"You're not helping, Padfoot!"

"You know what you need, don't you?" James said, with a half smile. "A full moon without full moon."

Remus gave him a withering glance, but James' words rang a bell to Peter. "What have you just said?"

"That Remus needs a full moon without full moon."

Peter recalled Professor Sinistra's unusually excited voice two days prior at Astronomy lesson, when she'd announced the exceptional event that would occur the following month. Could it really be that simple? Why hadn't anyone thought about it sooner? Peter was amazed that, for once, he had realized something before anyone else. That for once he was actually going to be useful to his mates. Then he remembered that he was betraying them... How ironic... Why didn't all this happen a couple of months ago?

He burst into a bitter laugh and all his friends turned to him bewildered.

"What's so funny?" Remus asked annoyed.

"You really can't see it?" Peter asked, once he'd managed to calm down a little.

"We really can't see what?" Sirius questioned.

"You lot shouldn't have dropped Astronomy, it's quite an interesting subject."

"What are you ranting about?"

"A full moon without full moon. I suppose you think it's a contradiction in terms, but it is not. And do you know when it is supposed to happen? Right next month!"

"Peter..."

"An eclipse! Next full moon there will be a total solar eclipse. The full moon will be up there, in the sky, on plain day, but invisible since it will be completely covering the sun. Sinistra said that it is a very rare astronomical phenomenon. Happens like once in a thousand years or so. And she also said that such rare astral conjunctions affects magic itself in unexpected ways. So the only question is how it is going to affect Chiara and you."

Remus was staring at Peter like it was the first time he actually saw him. It all sounded absurd, yet a small bubble of hope started swelling in his heart. _Please, please, please, let this work_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About eclipses:  
> a solar eclipse, for its nature, can only occur with the new moon so the rare phenomenon Peter mentions is actually impossible. Hope you'll accept this as a poetic license and pretend I didn't make a huge scientific mistake. ;)  
> Thanks to all for reading.


	19. A full moon without full moon

"I'm bored..."

Remus pretended not to have heard, and kept his eyes fixed on the pages of his new favourite reading: _The Sun, the Moon, the Earth; the magical Harmony of the Universe._

"Pads, you're always bored," James pointed out, chuckling. Then he passed a hand in his hair, shuffling it, while he casted a not-so-furtive glance in Lily's direction.

"For Merlin's sake, James! Stop acting like a git and go talk to her! And you, Moony... Put away that rubbish! I really can't see what you're hoping to find in there!"

"I just want to learn some more about eclipses... If you're bored, Padfoot, get some homework done. Or if you really don't want to, then play chess with Peter or something, but stop tormenting me."

Sirius huffed annoyed. "I'd love to lick Peter at chess! He surely is a lot more fun than you two put together! Only, he's disappeared Merlin-knows-where, just for a change! And for the record... I'm not losing my time with homework!"

"Then go prank the Slytherins, or, I don't know..."

"Prefect Lupin, are you really instigating a student to cause trouble?" James asked in mock disconcert.

"If it means for that student to stop annoying me, then yeah! Without a second thought!"

"Alright. I'll find something more entertaining to do than look at the two of you being idiots... I really hope full moon will come soon, so you'll stop with this nonsense!"

Remus finally took his eyes away from his book and actually looked at Sirius' fed-up expression. On another occasion, he would've pointed out that he hated full moons, but this time, for the very first time in his life, he was looking forward to it.

The revelation shocked him, and at the same time he found that Sirius was right. He was just wasting his time reading about eclipses. It would either work or not work, and all he could do about that was wait. "You know what, Pads? I've changed my mind. Let's go do something mischievous!"

"Okay. Who are you, and what have you done to Remus Lupin?" James asked, this time truly disconcerted.

"No, James. I'm serious!"

"Then who is he?" James asked, pointing to Sirius instead.

"Why? I'm Peter," Sirius answered unperturbed.

"Oh, Merlin!" Remus exclaimed, shaking his head in exasperation.

"Merlin? Is he here too?"

"Sure! Right beside you! He's hiding under your Invisibility Cloak!"

"Cool!"

"Guys... Can we get back to when this conversation made sense, please?"

"And when was it, Moony?"

"Now that you're asking... Never, I suppose..."

*

It was far past midnight when the lights in the sixth-year boys dormitory went off. The four Marauders (Peter had joined them again at a certain point during the afternoon, and he'd somehow managed not to confess them what he'd been up to) had spent all evening plotting their spectacular prank for the following morning, something they hadn't been doing in months. Remus had fallen asleep mere seconds after, with a huge smile plastered on his face. It seemed like a lifetime since the last time he'd had so much fun.

The following morning, when students started gathering in the Great Hall for breakfast, most of them slipped and fell on the floor. Those who didn't spent at least ten minutes with their mouths gaped in awe at the sight before their eyes.

Everything was covered in sparkling ice, the sunlight which filtered from the high windows of the Hall was refracted by the ice cristals, creating rainbows all around the place. The four house tables were lifted from the ground, standing on ice sheets reachable by large, elegant, ice staircases, each one guarded by a huge ice statue of the animal symbol of the respective house.

The four Gryffindor boys were seated at their usual spots, observing amused the other students as they carefully made their ways towards their tables. They burst out laughing when the snake guarding the Slytherin table came to life and hissed at the unfortunate drapel of students who had tried to climb up the stairs, causing them to run away panicked and half of them to slip on their bottoms.

"Sirius Orion Black!!!" one of the boys shouted.

"Hey, Reg! What's up?" Sirius called to his little brother cheerfully, feigning innocence.

"How am I supposed to eat breakfast?" Regulus called back, anger blasting in his stormy grey eyes.

"Oh... I'm sorry, bro... I thought you were old enough to eat by yourself..."

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Can't wait to see you try."

"Black! Potter! Lupin! Pettigrew!" a new voice shouted.

Minerva McGonagall took up the stairs to the Gryffindor table with a rigid and secure step. The ice lion purred at her passage, and she couldn't help but marvel at the magnificent, skillful spellwork. She reached the four troublemakers and gave them her most dangerous stern glance. Their expressions immediately turned worried and guilty.

"Good morning, Professor. Did you have a pleasant night?" Lupin asked, picking his usual diplomatic role.

"What the hell have you done to the Great Hall?" she asked, trying to contain her irritation, but still letting it transpire in her voice.

" _We_? You hurt us, Madam... Why would you accuse four poor, innocent..."

"Shut up, Mr. Potter!"

"But he's right, Professor. There's no evidence that we're involved in anyth..."

"Spare me the dialectics, Mr. Lupin. We all know how good you are at it, as much as we all know that this is you four's work." Then her tone softened a little, and she actually smiled. "Amazing piece of magic, by the way. I'm impressed. Although you should exploit your transfiguration abilities on some more productive purposes..."

The boys couldn't stop the proud smiles that appeared on their faces at their teacher's praise.

"Thanks, Minnie!" Sirius exclaimed. She sighed and shook her head.

"Detention to you all... Double for you, Mr. Black."

"Why?" the four asked in chorus.

"Your proud smiles were enough of a confession to me. As for you, Mr. Black, I still hope that you'll learn to address me as Professor before you take your NEWTs."

Remus opened his mouth to protest, then thought better of it. Professor McGonagall made to leave, but then stopped and turned to the boys again. "It's good to have you back," she declared, still smiling. Then she was gone.

"Did you see what I saw?" James asked the other three. "Did she actually wink at us?"

"Yes, Prongs... I think she did..." Sirius replied, equally astonished.

*

The teachers took three days to figure out how to rehestablish everything to normal. For all that time the Slytherins were forced to have their meals in their Common Room, since their table was still out of reach for everybody. Regulus managed to get his little revenge over his brother, exploding a dozen of dungbombs into the Trophy Room, which Sirius had to clean without magic for his detention.

After that, the days slowly went by, seemingly aeternal to Remus. Yet, the day of the full moon arrived sooner than he expected, and it took him totally by surprise.

"How are you feeling, Moony?" Peter asked concerned.

"Nervous..." he confessed.

"Why?"

"I... I don't know... This is kind of our last chance, and if it doesn't work..." He sighed, his mind travelling back at the evening of two days earlier, when he'd met Chiara and told her about the eclipse. Her skeptical expression had nearly made him angry back then, but now he couldn't help but agree with her.

"Don't worry, Rem. It'll be fine," Sirius said heartingly. Remus didn't really believe him, but nodded nonetheless.

~

From her favourite branch of her favourite tree next to her favourite clearing in the Forbidden Forest, Chiara kept throwing glances at the bright golden sphere of the sun, waiting for the moment in which its light would be cut off by the moon's shadow and wondering what would occurr to her when it happened, admitting that the eclipse would have any effect on her at all.

She hadn't believed a word when an overexcited Remus had told her about Pettigrew's stroke of genius, mainly because she didn't want to delude herself. Now, though, she was hopeful. This might really work... This had to work! It was their last chance, she knew it. And she needed to believe that everything would turn out to be fine.

~

Afternoon classes had been cancelled, so as to allow the students to assist to the extraordinary event. Nearly all the school had gathered outside on the grounds, all their eyes turned to the sky, waiting for the moon to cover the sun. Among them were the four Marauders, who seemed particularly interested and excited, especially Remus, whose heart was beating fast and strong with nervousness and anticipation. Finally, around three in the afternoon, the sky started to grow darker. Remus suddenly felt tired and sick, a sensation he'd come to associate to his transformations, yet this time it felt different somehow.

"Remus..." he heard James' concerned voice murmur.

"I'm not feeling well..."

"Come. Let's go to Madam Pomfrey."

"No... I can't... Chiara..." he protested feebly.

His friends didn't listen, though, and he let them carry him away, partly because he was feeling too weak to offer any resistance, partly because he knew that he truly needed to lie down and rest.

~

In the instant the sunlight started to fade, Chiara felt the usual sensation of the transformation. She spread her wings and slowly planed towards the ground, then waited for the moon to totally conceal the sun, for the blackness to totally shroud the earth.

The last thin sliver of sun disappeared from sight and Chiara started to change. She didn't waste time considering her unhoped luck. She had space for only one thought in her mind.

"Remus!" She exclaimed loudly, then started running towards the castle.

~

"Isn't she that girl?"

"The one who disappeared..."

"What's her name? Nightingale?"

She made her way through the crowd, hoping to get a glimpse of her beloved one, even in the darkness. She called his name again and again, while people around her pointed and whispered, wondering if she actually was the girl who'd gone missing for so long and where she'd come out from.

Suddenly someone took her arm.

"Chiara? Is it really you?" Severus asked, shocked and hopeful at the same time.

"Where's Remus?" was all she could say in response.

"Lupin? Why would you care ab..." he started to rebate, but was cut out by someone else.

"I saw him and the other Marauders heading back to the castle. I think they were carrying him to the Hospital Wing... He didn't look well..."

A point of worry struck her, but mainly she felt happiness and a new wave of hope, having a new direction to follow.

"Thanks, Matthew!" she cried, hugging Corner, than gave him a grateful kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome," he said softly when she was already out of earshot. He found himself thinking that she was truly amazing and for a moment he seriously regretted missing her crush on him. Lycanthropy or not, Lupin was really a fortunate guy.

~

The door of the Hospital Wing flew open and all four boys turned to look at it. In the entryway, her breath short from running, stood the most beautiful vision Remus had ever seen.

"Chiara!" he cried, and even if he felt exhausted, he got up from his bed and ran towards her.

They met middle-way and fell into each other's arms. It was a woderful sensation for Remus to finally be able to feel her by touch. He hugged her tightly, like he feared she would disappear again if only he let go.

"Remus..." she murmured into his chest, breathing the odour of his skin, holding into him just as tightly, wishing for that moment to last forever.

"Oh, Chiara! I love you! I love you, I love you, I love you..."

"Ehm... Not to interrupt this... charming picture... But maybe you should kiss, before the eclipse is over?"

"Right!" Remus exclaimed, eventually breaking the hug. "The curse... The eclipse... _Give me my sin again!_ "

Their lips met, right a second before the first thin sliver of sun reappeared in the sky. And right in that instant Chiara lost her senses.

"Oh, no! Chiara, please! No! Madam Pomfrey!!!"

Madam Pomfrey came running at Remus' cry. She barely registered Miss Nightingale's sudden reappearence, too shocked by the dreadful sense of deja-vu at the sight of Mr Lupin holding her unconscious body. "Oh, for Holy Merlin's beard! Not this once again!!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _Give me my sin again!_ [Romeo and Juliet – Act I – Scene V]


	20. Welcome back, Chiara

She woke up at the feeble sunlight. She blinked a couple of times, trying to focus on her surroundings. Only, she didn't see the greenish fronds she expected, but white tendrils and an equally candid ceiling. She rubbed her eyes, to free them of what was clearly the remnant of a dream and... _Wait... Rubbing my eyes?_

She stared in disbelief at what should've been wings, instead were arms, and hands, and fingers. And finally all the white around, in the ceiling above her, and in the sheets of the comfty bed she was lying into, and in the tendrils all around the bed, made sense: she was in the castle, in the Hospital Wing. And even if it was broad day, she was still human. Remus had kissed her, the eclipse had worked, the curse was broken. She was free.

She straightened in her bed and pulled the curtains open. Not more than a second later a head appeared from behind the tendrils of the bed beside hers, with a black mop of uncombed hair and big, hazel eyes behind a pair of round spectacles.

"She's awake!" James Potter screamed, disappearing behind the tendrils again, then he stepped out and grinned widely at her.

"Well, good morning, Lark! Is it this the time to get up?" he asked, with mock reproach.

"I'm no lark, Potter," she rebated, rolling her eyes.

"No? Really? Must've mistaken... Are you a nightingale, then?"

She took her pillow, with all intentions of throwing it at him, but he stopped her shouting panicked, "No! Wait! You could hit him!"

"Him?" she asked confused, but it took her just a moment to understand whom James was talking about. "Remus!"

She immediately got out of bed and threw open the curtains from where James had appeared. The boy lying there weakly smiled and she threw her arms around him.

"Careful... It hurts..." he protested, gritting his teeth in pain.

"Sorry..." she murmured guiltily, retreating suddently.

"Don't be," he said, reaching out to caress her cheek. "I'm happy to see you."

*

Madam Pomfrey categorically refused to let Chiara go for the day, but Chiara didn't mind. It was perfectly fine with her to just laze in bed, chatting with Remus about whatever was on her mind and laughing at his jokes, just like they used to do before the curse, and the play, and all the awkwardness of that crazy year.

It was also lovely to receive the visit of so many people.

Alice and Mary came, carrying a mountain of sweets; Madam Pomfrey fell into hysterics when a couple of Chocolate Frogs escaped and started hopping all over the place.

Lily burst into tears in the instant she saw her best friend and she squeezed her in a hug so tight Chiara wondered if she wasn't actually trying to suffocate her to death.

It was nothing compared to her parents' reactions, though. Jason didn't stop sobbing for all the time they were there, and Anna, hardly the affectionate type in normal circumstances, fussed over her and Remus both in a way that was beyond embarassing, while muttering incessantly in Italian in such a quick and incoherent way that made impossible for anyone else present to understand a single word.

Being finally set free the day after was even better.

Chiara and Remus entered the Great Hall together, holding hands all the time.

The whole Gryffindor table clapped and cheered when she sat down next to Lily at breakfast, and even from the other Houses a lot of people rushed to her to express their happiness and relief in having her back.

Severus didn't join the horde come to shake her hand, since he didn't want to approach her while she was surrounded by the Marauders, but he still managed to slip her a note during Potions, telling he was glad she was okay; she turned to him while Slughorn was distracted and mouthed a silent _thank you_ and he winked in response. That was pretty much all their interaction, but it was enough for them both; it was just the way their friendship worked and all they needed was knowing that it was still alive.

*

That evening the Marauders put up a party in the Common Room for her. A huge banner, in Gryffindor red and gold, reading _WELCOME BACK, CHIARA_ and carrying the drawing of a stylized nightingale, hanged from the ceiling and all sorts of food and beverage, half of which Chiara was quite sure shouldn't have been authorized inside the school, filled every bearing surface. Chiara couldn't remember to have had so much fun in a long time, or possibly in her whole life. She spent the most of the night either dancing or snogging with Remus, until a sleepy and very annoyed Professor McGonagall interrupted the party and required for everyone to go to bed immediately.

*

Adjusting back to the old school routine was a slow and challenging process. As much as her teachers were understanding and supportive, Chiara had still missed half the year's schedule and she had to study practically non-stop to recuperate. Fortunately, Lily and the Marauders (well, most of them...) were among the smartest students in the school and they gave her a considerable help.

Beside study, she had to recuperate all the time she'd lost with all her friends and, obviously, Remus. The two of them didn't lose any occasion to spend time together, to hold hands while moving to classes or to hide in some alcove behind an armour or a tapestry and kiss. Those first few weeks with Chiara back were by far the happiest time of Remus' life.

The only person who was possibly happier than Remus about Chiara's return was Professor McLean. When she saw her sitting next to Remus at Muggle Studies on Thursday afternoon, she gave her the widest smile ever; a child who just discovered that Christmas had come early wouldn't have been as excited as the Professor when she declared that their Juliet was finally back and that they could resume the rehearsals soon. Chiara didn't take the news well.

"Oh Merlin, I can't think about the play, too... _Uccidimi_ [Kill me], Remus!" she complained with her boyfriend, lying into him for support while they moved away after the lesson.

"I won't, Love. You know I won't," he answered with a chuckle, affectionately tightening his grip on her.

*

That evening, while working with Lily at a particularly difficult Potions essay, she finally had the occasion to question her about all she'd missed regarding James. When Lily recounted her about their disastrous date, Chiara couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny!" Lily protested, slighted by her friend's lack of sympathy.

"I'm sorry... It's just... Are we really talking about big-headed, overconfident James Potter? Not even Remus is that coy!"

"You're missing the point, Chiara! I thought that James truly cared for me, instead it was just a game for him all along!"

"It's you who's missing the point, Lils," Chiara rebated, shaking her head at her friend's thickness. "He's crazy for you... He probably just thought that he would ruin your friendship or some other nonsense on that line..."

"Why would he think that?"

"Dunno. Boys are idiots," Chiara answered, shrugging. "Speaking of serious things, should this damn Golpalott's law tell me something?"

*

"It's really not that difficult, Chiara," James repeated for the umpteenth time.

"Well, then I must be too stupid, because I really don't get it!" she protested angrily.

"You're not stupid! Don't be silly! You're just thinking about it the wrong way... Conjuring spells are just like Vanishing spells, only the other way around... You just have to..."

"I think she needs a pause."

Chiara eyed Remus and his Marauder-grin suspiciously. "Do you realize if I don't finish this essay by Monday McGonagall will kill me?"

"You can finish it later. Come on, I want to show you something."

He took her by the hand and led her out of the castle and towards a certain willow tree standing isolated in the middle of the school grounds.

"You must be kidding me."

"Don't you trust me?"

"I do. But not if you want to go near that thing... Do you remember Davey Gudgeon in second year? Oh, and those crazy people you call your best friends approached it one night a few months ago, and they didn't look well when they came back, I assure you."

"I doubt it was because of the tree..." Remus replied in a strange voice, bitter and... guilty, maybe? Then he smiled and went on in a heartening tone. "You won't get hurt, I promise. I would never put you in any danger."

She nodded and followed him, then observed astounded as he took a long stick from the ground and pressed a knot on the Whomping Willow's trunk with it. The tree went still under Chiara's incredulous stare and she and Remus approached the tree some more and slipped into a hole at its feet.

"Where are we going?" she wanted to know.

"Is it really that difficult to simply trust me?"

"Well... It's cold, and dark, and narrow... And I'm a bit scared, honestly..."

"We're nearly there. The tunnel ends just after that curve."

And sure enough, right around the corner a staircase started and once they climbed it they found themselves in a dusty, messy room with broken furniture and torn wallpaper.

"What's this place?"

"The Shrieking Shack."

" _CHE?!_ [What?!]"

"Relax... It's never been haunted... They built it for me..." Remus concluded with a sigh.

"For you?" she asked perplexed, then she understood. "You mean this is where..."

"I come every month to transform, yeah."

She looked around again, as any chulk, any unhinged closet door, any scratch on the wall assumed a new, horrifying meaning. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I don't know... This place... I hate it, but it is a part of me, somehow... I just wanted to share it with you..."

She smiled sweetly and he felt his heart skipping a beat or two as he stared transfixed at her.

"Show me around," she asked, taking his hand.

He led her through the various rooms of the house, not that there were many, and finally they stopped in the bedroom upstairs, sitting next to each other on the hard, squeaky mattress.

Suddenly, they heard the loud roar of thunder and not long after the patter of rain against the boarded windows.

"Thank Merlin we're inside!" But she hadn't finished saying it that the water started to penetrate through the cracks between the house's wooden planks and drops started falling onto their heads.

"Oh, Merlin!" Chiara shouted, covering her head with her arms.

Remus took out his wand and pointed it to the ceiling. "Impervius! Here, this should fix it... Are you cold?" he asked her sweetly, encircling her with his arms.

"Not anymore," she answered in a whisper, conforted by the heat of his body.

She found his lips with hers. At first it was a soft kiss, not different from all the kisses they'd shared till then. Then she deepened it, pulling him closer. Her hands, like on their own accord, made their way under his shirt, feeling the muscles of his chest, his strong shoulders, every vertebra of his back. Only when she tried to take off his shirt he broke their kiss and backed away from her.

"Chiara... What are you doing?"

"What do you think?"

"But Chiara... You know that I... That I never..."

"Me neither."

"What about the curse? What if you turned into... a phoenix, or something?"

"A phoenix? Cool. I would be immortal."

"Tecnically, phoenixes do die..."

"We already broke the curse, Remus. It won't happen again. Besides, if it did, we'd only have to wait till next eclipse."

"There is one every thousand years..."

"It will be fine, Remus."

"But what if it didn't? What if something go wrong? What if I hurt you? What if..."

"What if you just shut up?"

*

The rain kept falling outside, its ticking sound mixing with their soft panting. Finally, after an half hour or so, the sky cleared up a bit and the sun timidly showed its head behind the dense clouds. A thin ray of sunlight penetrated the cramped room, catching the two lovers still lying on the bed in each other's arms, him playing absent-mindedly with one of her chocolate brown curls, and her tracing with her fingers one of the most recent scratches on his chest.

"I think I've heard a lark," she said, with a soft chuckle.

"Really? And what did it say?"

"That we should get dressed and head back to the castle," she answered, gesturing to their clothes that laid abandoned on the dusty floor.

Remus didn't move, though. He kept caressing her hair, slowly, still not daring to believe his luck.

"Chiara... I've been thinking..." he said, suddenly breaking the silence again.

"What?" she asked, alarmed. He wasn't going to get paranoic again and dump her without a reason, was he? Knowing him like she did by that point, it wouldn't surprise her if he did something like that.

He noticed her terrified expression and chuckled. "Don't worry... I've just been thinking about the play..."

"The play?" she asked, puzzled but visibly relaxed.

"Yeah... Well, you said you have too much on your mind right now... And honestly, I'm kind of fed up of Montagues and Capulets..."

"Hey! I'm both a Montague and a Capulet, remember?"

"No, love. You are a Nightingale. You are my little singing birdie."

" _E quale sarebbe la tua idea geniale, sciocco di un lupo?_ " [And what should your genius idea be, you silly wolf?]

Remus smirked in that Marauder-ish way again. "Just having a little chat with Lily and Prongs."


	21. Epilogue - The opening night

Chiara studied her reflection in the mirror and added a little bit more eyeshadow on her eyelids.

"Chiara! Are you done yet?! I need the bathroom too!" Mary shouted from outside.

"Coming!" she called back.

She opened the door and Mary's jaw dropped in amazement. "Chiara, you... You're gorgeus!"

Chiara blushed and muttered an embarassed thank you. Then left the dormitory and took the stairs to the Common Room.

Remus was waiting for her down there. She smiled radiously at his sight.

" _Allora, come sto?_ " [So, how am I?] she asked, turning around, making the hem of her long silver dress raise slightly.

"Beautiful, as usual," he said with a chuckle. Then he grabbed her hand to pull her closer and kissed her.

"Oh, please, stop! You two are disgusting!" Mary's voice said from behind them.

They turned to look at her, both their faces on fire, their fingers still intertwined. Alice overstepped Mary, chuckling, and joined Frank who was playing a round of wizard's chess with Peter to kill the time.

"Shall we go, then?" Remus asked.

Chiara locked arms with him, Alice with Frank and all six of them left the Common Room and headed towards the Great Hall.

*

" _What's in a name? that which we call a rose..._ " Lily muttered under her breath, pacing nervously up and down in the backstage.

"Lils, relax," James said, rolling his eyes.

"I'll never remember all the lines!" she shrieked panicked.

"Of course you will, trust me." And he posed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed.

*

Chiara and Remus sat down next to each other in the front row. Chiara was feeling nearly as nervous as she would've felt if she had actually to go on the stage, even if she wasn't sure herself why. Eventually the curtain rose and the first actors made their entrance on the scene.

Chiara grabbed Remus' hand and he returned her clasp, while a smile of pure happiness made its way on his face.

*

It was as if the Great Hall was under a spell. The audience was like a unique entity, all smiling, tearing or holding their breaths at the same times. Anytime Lily was on stage, Chiara's eyes were fixed on her, her lips moving silently reciting every single line with her. Remus' eyes, instead, often left the scene to look at the marvellous girl sitting beside him.

" _It is the east, and Juliet is the sun._ " James recited.

" _Sei tu il mio sole!_ " [You are my sun!] Remus whispered in Chiara's ear.

For the first time, she diverted her glare from the stage to fix it in Remus' green eyes. " _Ti amo._ " [I love you.]

" _Lo so._ " [I know.]

*

" _O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die._ "

Lily pretended to stab herself and slowly leaned down beside James. She could feel their bodies nearly touching, his almost unnoticeable breathing and while she closed her eyes she realized all of a sudden that all she wanted in her life was to fall asleep every night beside him.

*

The curtain closed and Chiara jumped on her feet, clapping loudly, her eyes filled with tears.

She wasn't the only one. A lot of people were crying, especially those who came for Pureblood families and hadn't had an active role in the staging, hence didn't know the story in advance.

"You were wonderful," James said to Lily, his eyes full of admiration and love.

She wasn't sure what made her do it. If it was the excitement and the happiness of the post-play or if it was simply the fact that James was so horribly perfect. Anyway she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

It was brief, but incredibly intense. She separated from him, panting and with her cheeks on fire. At first, James simply stared at her blankly, like he was trying to process what had happened. Then he smirked widely and kissed her again, with so much passion that he lifted her up from the ground.

The curtain opened again for the final applauses and everyone was astounded by the scene before their eyes. A lot of people clapped and cheered. A couple even whistled.

"Potter and Evans? No way!" someone shouted from somewhere behind Chiara.

She could hear Alice, who was seated right next to her, whispering to Frank "I told you so".

"Well, it was about time, don't you think?" Remus asked, amused.

"Yeah. I suppose so," Chiara answered with a laugh. Then turned to the stage again. "Go, Lils!" she cried.

Remus cheered for James in turn, then focused on the girl he loved once again. " _My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss,_ " he whispered in her ear.

"Then, _good pilgrim_ , what are you waiting for? Kiss me, for Merlin's sake!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Hope you all enjoyed! :D  
> Many thanks to everyone who stopped by to read/review/leave kudos. And a special thank you to JaylaFireGal for all her lovely support, it really means a lot! *hug*
> 
> Shakespeare quotes:  
>  _What's in a name? that which we call a rose..._ [Romeo and Juliet – Act II – Scene II]  
>  _It is the east, and Juliet is the sun._ [Romeo and Juliet – Act II – Scene II]  
>  _O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die._ [Romeo and Juliet – Act V – Scene III]  
>  _My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss._ [Romeo and Juliet – Act I – Scene V]


End file.
